Burggarten

As we did yesterday, we wrapped up our day with a meander around the city … some of it before the visit to the Imperial Treasury, and some of it afterward … some of it just a photo-op … some of it a bit more than that.

We were on our way back from lunch, when we spotted a sign proclaiming a square along our route as “Helmut-Zilk-Platz.” We had to make a quick stop to take a photo to send to Thomas and Geraldine, whom we met on our world cruise last year. You see, Helmut — who was the mayor of Vienna from 1984 to 1994 - was Thomas’s father. Our one-photo-stop quickly turned into a longer one, however, when we realized that there was a memorial installed in the square.

Alfred Hrdlicka's “Memorial Against War & Fascism” is dedicated to the victims of the same. It was installed in 1998 … when Zilk-Platz was still known as Albertinaplatz. I later read that the memorial was an initiative of Mayor Zilk … hence the renaming of the plaza in 2009 to honor him. Google translated the plaque embedded in the square as follows: “Here stood the Philipphof, a representative large residential building of the Gründerzeit, which was destroyed by a bomb attack on 12 March 1945. Hundreds of people who had sought shelter in the cellars were killed."

The memorial is a walk-in monument … meaning that you can walk amongst the different elements — the granite "Gate of Violence"; the bronze “Street-Washing Jew” statue that can be seen between the gate pillars; the sculpture entitled “Orpheus Enters Hades;” and the “Stone of the Republic.” That some granite elements came from the quarry of the Mauthausen concentration camp makes the memorial all the more poignant.

Another place that ended up being a longer stop on our meander was Burggarten [Castle Garden]. We were on our way home after the visit to the Imperial Treasury when we stumbled upon a map that listed the garden as a site of interest “In der Burg” [in the castle]. So, we made a detour, entering the grounds through the Heroes Square Gate.

The garden — located behind the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg Complex — was created in 1818 as the private garden of the Emperor. An avid gardener himself, the emperor participated in the design of the grounds and the selection of varied plants from around the world. A century later — in 1919 — the garden was opened to the general public. Like Volksgarten yesterday, it is a UNESCO-listed world heritage site.

We skipped the very crowded Palm House — the green house that was added in 1902 as a place for the emperor to relax — and wandered around the grounds for a bit, stopping for a photo op at the Mozart Monument. The marble statue was installed in Albertinaplatz in 1896. Damaged during the bombing of Vienna in 1945, it was restored and re-installed … this time in its present location in the Burggarten. I found the sol key — designed using pink flowers — to be a charming touch.

After the Burggarten detour, we called it quits. Since we were closer to the Karlsplatz (SP) Station by the State Opera House, we walked there and used the U3/U6 metro combo to get ourselves home. Tonight we will be re-packing our bags for the move to the Viking Rinda tomorrow … but won’t be leaving Vienna just yet.

By the way, I was curious to see how good a deal we got with the 7-day transportation pass we purchased on the 9th for €22.60 each. So I did some calculations. Essentially, we’ve taken 20 rides on the metro and 1 ride on the tram since arriving in Vienna. Transfers in the same direction are free within 80 minutes of the first ride, so that puts us at 12 trips. That means that we paid off our pass yesterday. Today was a freebie … and so will be any rides we take over the next three days. Darn good deal!Read more