Key facts

• The Ringstrasse: the most ambitious urban boulevard project of the 19th century — the Ringstrasse (the circular boulevard (Ringstraße; literally “ring road”) that replaced the medieval walls and glacis (the fortification zone) around the Innere Stadt (First District) of Vienna; authorised by Emperor Franz Joseph I by imperial decree in December 1857; construction (1858–1890; the 5.3-km circular boulevard lined with the most concentrated collection of historicist public buildings in the world); the buildings (all constructed within approximately 33 years; the Vienna State Opera (1869; Neo-Renaissance; August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll; opened with Don Giovanni; the critical reception disaster (described in the figcaption)); the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum; 1891; Gottfried Semper and Karl von Hasenauer; the finest art history museum building in the world; the collections: the Vermeer gallery (two Vermeers; one of the finest Vermeer concentrations in any museum); the Bruegel gallery (the finest single collection of Pieter Bruegel the Elder in the world: 12 of the approximately 37 surviving works by Bruegel; the most important collection of 16th-century Flemish painting in the world); the Kunstkammer (the Habsburg Kunstkammer; one of the oldest and most important collections of decorative art and curiosities in the world; the Benvenuto Cellini Salt Cellar (the Saliera; 1543; gold; the most expensive object ever stolen (2003; stolen from the museum by Robert Mang who prised open a window; recovered 2006); the most famous single object in the museum’s collection); the Natural History Museum (across the Ring from the Kunsthistorisches; a mirror-image building (Semper/Hasenauer 1889); the Venus of Willendorf (c.25,000 BCE; limestone; 11.1 cm; the most famous Upper Palaeolithic figurine in the world; the most important object in the collection)); the Burgtheater (1888; Semper/Hasenauer; the German-language theater of reference — the equivalent of the Comédie-Française for French or the National Theatre for English); the Parliament (1883; Theophil Hansen; Greek Revival style; the most prominent classical building on the Ring); the Vienna City Hall (Rathaus; 1883; Friedrich von Schmidt; Neo-Gothic; the tallest secular building on the Ring (97 m to the top of the central tower); the ice skating rink in front of the Rathaus in winter is the most visited seasonal outdoor attraction in Vienna))
• The Schönbrunn Palace: the Habsburg summer palace and one of the great Baroque palaces of Europe — Schönbrunn (Schloss Schönbrunn; the summer palace of the Habsburg emperors (1,441 rooms; the 40 state rooms open to the public represent a small fraction of the total space); construction began 1696 under Emperor Leopold I (the name “Schönbrunn” derives from a “beautiful spring” — schöner Brunnen — found here in the 16th century); the current palace (designed by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach (one of the greatest Baroque architects; the builder of the Karlskirche and the original designs for Schönbrunn) and later modified by Nikolaus Pacassi (who reduced Fischer’s grandiose original plans to a more modest but still magnificent result; the current facade of 1,476 windows)); the residents (Maria Theresa (Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary 1740–1780; the only female ruler of the Habsburg domains; born in Vienna 1717; had 16 children (13 survived to adulthood); her daughter Marie Antoinette (1755–1793; born at Schönbrunn; future Queen of France; guillotined in 1793); the young Mozart (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; visited Schönbrunn in 1762 at age 6 to perform for Maria Theresa; the story of his proposing marriage to the Archduchess Maria Josepha (Marie Antoinette’s older sister) is probably apocryphal but charming)); Franz Joseph I (Emperor 1848–1916; the longest-reigning Habsburg emperor; spent his working days at the Hofburg but his private life at Schönbrunn; died at Schönbrunn in 1916); the gardens (the most important formal French garden in Austria; the Gloriette (the 18th-century triumphal arch on the hill above the palace; the most dramatic viewpoint in Vienna; the view of the palace roof and the city beyond); the zoo (Tiergarten Schönbrunn; opened 1752 by Emperor Franz I Stephan; the oldest zoo in the world still in operation); UNESCO WHS 1996 (separate from the Innere Stadt inscription))
• The Kunsthistorisches Museum: the finest Habsburg art collection and one of the great museums of the world — the KHM (Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien; “Art History Museum Vienna”; opened 1891 by Emperor Franz Joseph I; the building (Gottfried Semper and Karl von Hasenauer; 1872–1891; the most ambitious museum building of the 19th century; the octagonal dome above the entrance vestibule; the staircase hall (the most dramatic museum interior in Vienna; the ceiling painting above the staircase by Mihály Munkácsy; the lunette paintings in the arch above the landing painted by the 26-year-old Gustav Klimt in 1890–1891 — one of Klimt’s earliest important commissions; the small but exquisite Klimt lunettes showing allegorical figures of ancient and Renaissance art); the collections: the Old Masters gallery (11 rooms from the Flemish school alone (the Bruegel gallery: 12 paintings including “Tower of Babel”, “Hunters in the Snow”, “The Return of the Herd”, “The Peasant Wedding”)); the Raphael; the Titian; the Velázquez (the finest Velázquez collection outside Spain); the Dürer; the Kunstkammer (the most important Kunstkammer collection in the world; the Saliera; the Ambras collection (assembled by Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria at Schloss Ambras near Innsbruck; the most important Renaissance Kunstkammer in existence))
• Heritage: UNESCO World Heritage Site, Historic Centre of Vienna, inscribed 2001; on UNESCO Danger List since 2017
• GPS: 48.2082° N, 16.3738° E