Discover Vienna’s grand boulevard interactively

Today I’ll invite you on a virtual tour of Vienna’s Ringstrasse and the gorgeous buildings that line it. For the 150th anniversary (Vienna’s Ringstrasse was inaugurated by Emperor Franz Joseph on May 1, 1865), the Vienna Tourist Board has examined 15 of the most important buildings along the Ringstrasse, which encloses the historical city center, with a fine-toothed comb, providing lots of information about the people inside as well as the environment. You’ll see that there are many details to discover and some bizarre things to find out about too, and you’re sure to be thrilled by this interactive tour.

Ringturm Vienna

Vienna Ring View – a journey through time through the Ringstrasse – http://ringview.vienna.info/en/

Did you know that the 20-meter-tall weather beacon on the roof of the Ringturm (corner of Schottenring and Franz-Josefs-Kai) displays the weather using colors? The data are supplied by Hohe Warte, the central meteorology and geodynamics institute in Vienna.

Or that the Parliament building (Dr. Karl Renner Ring) was originally designed by “Ringstrasse architect” Theophil Hansen to be multicolored, but that this idea failed to pass the building committee?

You’ll discover that Urania (corner of Franz-Josef-Kai and Stubenring) was opened in 1910 while still under construction, since Halley’s Comet was approaching and people definitely wanted to watch it from this observatory.

Urania Vienna

In the Austrian Post Savings Bank building, designed by Otto Wagner, you can walk right in and have a look around, which is also the case in the Vienna State Opera (Opernring) and the Votive Church (corner of Schottenring and Dr. Karl Lueger Ring).

Stand between the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Art History (Burgring) or enjoy a view from the roof of the Hofburg Palace (also on Burgring).

At Rathausplatz (Universitätsring), find “the 8 chimney sweepers” and learn how bees are now bred on the roof of the Burgtheater (Universitätsring), discover that the University of Vienna (Universitätsring) has had 9 Nobel prizewinners, and that the architect of the former Stock Exchange (Schottenring) assumed part of the construction costs personally because he absolutely wanted to realize every single planned detail.

Naturhistorisches Museum Wien ©WienTourismusKarl Thomas

In addition, there are all sorts of stories about the MAK (Museum of Applied Arts on Stubenring) and details about the former War Ministry (Stubenring).

Give it a try: ringview.vienna.info/en

If you’ve now gotten the urge, all of the Schick Hotels are close by or situated directly on Vienna’s Ringstrasse – the ideal starting point to visit the many landmarks in real life.