Art and architecture around 1900: the golden age of Viennese Art Nouveau. A walking tour to experience Gustav Klimt and Otto Wagner.

Fin-de-siècle-Vienna is one of the most fascinating intellectual and artistic foci of European modernity. The social disintegration and irrevocable decay of the Habsburg Empire brought forth a highly sensuous culture attracted more by the exploration of the inner world than by political reality. Sensuality, refined eroticism and inwardness are the leading principles of Klimt’s pictorial style. But even Otto Wagner’s pure and simple architecture with its brilliant gold and flower decoration pays its tribute to Viennese Art Nouveau ornamentation.

Itinerary

The guided tour starts at the underground station »Kettenbrückengasse« with Otto Wagner’s marvellous apartment houses on the Wienzeile. We will then walk through the lively Naschmarkt whose flair is reminiscent of an oriental bazaar. The first highlight of the tour is the Secession Pavilion where we will be able to admire a major work of Gustav Klimt: the Beethoven Frieze. Otto Wagner’s ancient railway stations on Karlsplatz show Art Nouveau at its best: corrugated copper roofs cover a modernist steel skeleton filled with precious marble plates. The tour ends at Otto Wagner’s unique Postal Savings Bank where art nouveau develops into pure and functional forms. The visit of the counter-hall is possible during work days, not on Saturday and Sunday.

Practical information

MEETING POINT: underground station Kettenbrückengasse, exit: Kettenbrückengasse.
TIME: The tour lasts for about 2,5 hours.
ADMISSION FEE: Sezession (Beethovenfries).

END OF THE TOUR: Postsparkasse Ring.
PRACTICAL ADVICE: It is recommended to have a public transportation ticket ready before the tour starts.  Tickets are available in the underground stations or the tobacco shops.

OTHER INTERESTING VENUES:

The Museum of the Upper Belvedere (Klimt Collection).

The Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) on Stubenring,

FURTHER READING:
Carl E. Schorske, Fin-De-Siècle Vienna. Politics and Culture. New York 1981. 

(© all fotos Reinhard Travnicek)