54 tours through Vienna

Delicacies and last chances on Monument Day

The Vienna program items on "Monument Day" include not only well-known showpieces such as the National Library, but also hidden and little-known cultural heritage.

(Bild: Google)

At the end of September, Vienna's cultural heritage once again allows visitors to take a look behind the scenes. Destinations off the beaten track pay off, some things can be seen for the last time in their current form. And if the fears of monument conservationists are anything to go by, Austria's cultural heritage is generally in danger.

Hundreds of Viennese will be doing the same on Sunday, September 29: First cast their vote for the National Council elections and then take advantage of the unique opportunity to take a look behind the scenes of famous Viennese monuments on "Monument Day" once again. This year, there will be a special focus on monument conservation work, including a workshop where you can learn how to restore historic windows.

Old favorites and new discoveries
The "classics" will once again be very popular, from the State Hall of the National Library to the various wings of the Hofburg and the Belvedere to the otherwise inaccessible parts of Otto Wagner's Postsparkasse. But this year in particular, it is worth taking a step off the beaten track, for example to the Arsenal, where the workshop of the Federal Monuments Office shows how the substance of architectural monuments is restored and preserved.

All the bricks used in the Roman city of Vindobona came from huge brickworks in Hernals.

(Bild: TagdesDenkmals / Stadtarchäologie Wien)

The Arsenal also offers the chance to see the historic Balloon Hall from 1916 in its original state one last time before it is converted into a studio for the Academy of Fine Arts. A walk through Hernals is also fascinating, where you can discover traces of the district's history as a ten-hectare brickworks for the Roman city of Vindobona.

Most of the participating institutions not only offer special guided tours on Monument Day, but also insights into areas that are otherwise off-limits to the public, such as the fire station and the plaster cellar of the Hofburg, or the embassy buildings of France and Iraq. The number of participants is limited on most of these tours, so it pays to book quickly.

New law causes concern among monument conservationists
This Monument Day will be the first under the new Monument Protection Act, which comes into force on September 1. One controversial aspect is that "the destruction of a protected monument must now be approved" if its "preservation is economically unreasonable". The Monument Protection Initiative fears that reckless businessmen with private appraisals behind them could replace cultural assets with profitable new buildings.

For Christoph Bazil, President of the Federal Monuments Office, however, the concerns of the Monument Protection Initiative are "incomprehensible". The new law also stipulates a special maintenance obligation for owners, which is intended to prevent them from letting monuments "fall into disrepair in order to be able to enforce demolition". However, Bazil supports the initiative's demand that private owners of listed buildings in particular need more support from the public sector: For the most part, they were "doing an incredible amount for the preservation of our cultural heritage with great personal commitment. That should be recognized."