Lovers' photo project

The changing times in Vienna captured in pictures

For 14 years, Alexander Fried from Vienna has been on the hunt for a photographic comparison of today and then.

(Bild: zeitenspruenge.at)

Vienna is often jokingly referred to as an inhabited museum. Changes usually happen more slowly here, but they do happen. The "Zeitsprünge" platform impressively stages the changes in the cityscape.

Vienna is rich in history, much of which has been captured in pictures. For example, the two ladies in elegant gowns crossing the Ringstrasse in front of the Opera House in 1900 (see picture above). A moment as if painted - and yet a piece of history, captured in one of the pictures in Alexander Fried's new project. The fortnightly calendar is more than just a collection of nostalgic photographs.

Stephansplatz full of cars
The connection from Rotenturmstraße to Kärntner Straße via Stephansplatz, for example, was an important crossing for car traffic for many decades in order to get from the north of the city to the south, as the picture from 1965 found by Fried shows. Stephansplatz was only accessible to the public by bus. Absolutely unimaginable today. Today, the pedestrian zone invites tourists and locals alike to take a stroll.

One place, many bridges
The first Aspern Bridge was built as a chain bridge in 1864 as an extension of the Ringstraße into Leopoldstadt. It was named after the Battle of Aspern, in which the Austrian troops defeated the French under the leadership of Napoleon. The historic picture here dates back to 1874. In 1913, the bridge was replaced by an arch bridge to cope with the increasing traffic flows. Like many other bridges over the Danube Canal, the Aspern Bridge was blown up by the Wehrmacht during the Battle of Vienna in 1945.

Unobstructed and obstructed view from Ballhausplatz
Ballhausplatz is home to both the Federal Chancellery and the Office of the Federal President and can therefore confidently be described as the center of power of the Republic, although the Foreign Ministry moved around the corner in 2005. The gap left by the building in 1950 is now filled by the Ministry of the Interior; before that, there was a clear view of the high-rise building in Herrengasse. Incidentally, when it was built in 1932, it was the tallest residential building in Vienna.

A house in the middle of the Graben?
The Graben was fundamentally redesigned in the 19th century: Numerous buildings had to make way to create a continuous connection from the Graben to Stephansplatz or Stock-im-Eisen-Platz. The so-called Elefantenhaus, which existed until 1866, previously formed the eastern end of the moat. The name of the house refers to a relief on the side façade, which commemorated Beppo, the first elephant to be seen in Vienna. Archduke Maximilian II brought the animal with him when he arrived in Vienna from Spain in 1552 and naturally attracted a great deal of attention.

Photographic journey through time
Fried takes the viewer on a journey through the Vienna of past decades with meticulously researched texts and impressive comparisons of images. These are insights into the life of a city that pulsated then and now. It is the continuation of the "zeitenspruenge.at" platform. There Fried documents the transformation of Vienna using historical and current photographs. He invites you on an impressive journey through time.

Since 2011, Fried, a full-time web developer, has been busy re-photographing old views. The challenge here is not only to recreate exactly the same image section, but also the lenses used at the time, in order to produce truly congruent images. Fried is not just interested in nostalgia: as he himself emphasizes on his website, there are also "countless places in Vienna that have become more beautiful and more liveable".