Vienna · self-guided walk

Stephansdom to the Staatsoper

The most rewarding 90 minutes in Vienna: from Mozart's apartment and the Stephansdom along the Graben to the Peterskirche and the Shoah memorial on Judenplatz, then through Michaelerplatz into the Hofburg, past the State Hall, the Augustinerkirche and the Albertina to the State Opera.

11 stops · 2.4 km · about 75 min

Distance and time are our curators' estimates for the whole walk, stops included.

The stops

The short version of each stop. In aiGuide, open Vienna, choose “Stephansdom to the Staatsoper” and tap Begin walking tour; then lock your phone, and each story starts as you reach the stop.

1. 1Mozarthaus Vienna

   Classical era, 1784 to 1787

   

   Behind this plain white front on Domgasse, Mozart rented one of the finest homes of his Vienna years, for 460 florins in rent. Climb to the first floor to see the rooms where he lived with Constanze, and where Joseph Haydn came to hear his new string quartets.

   • Mozart lived here from late September 1784 to April 1787.
   • His only Vienna apartment that survives, on the first floor.

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2. 2Stephansdom

   Romanesque and Gothic, 12th to 16th century

   

   You are standing before Vienna's great cathedral. Look up at the roof: more than 230,000 glazed tiles form zigzag bands, and on the south side above the choir they lay out a double-headed imperial eagle. The Viennese call the 136-metre south tower simply the Steffl.

   • The south tower, the Steffl, is 136 metres tall, built 1368 to 1433.
   • Duke Rudolf IV laid the Gothic cornerstone on 7 April 1359.

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3. 3Pestsäule

   High Baroque, 1679 to 1693

   

   In the middle of the Graben, a tower of marble clouds swarms with angels and climbs to a gilded Holy Trinity. Find the kneeling figure of Emperor Leopold I in prayer, and below him Faith with an angel, toppling a gaunt figure of the Plague into the depths.

   • Vowed by Emperor Leopold I during the plague epidemic of 1679.
   • Consecrated on 29 October 1693 after more than a decade of work.

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4. 4Peterskirche

   High Baroque, 1701 to 1733

   

   Squeezed between the houses just off the Graben, this church hides a surprise behind its curved front. Step inside and the oval nave opens up in ochre and gold under Rottmayr's dome fresco. On the outside wall facing Goldschmiedgasse, find the 1906 relief of the legend of Charlemagne founding the church.

   • First recorded in 1137; the medieval church burned in 1661.
   • Consecrated on 17 May 1733 by Cardinal Sigismund von Kollonitz.

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5. 5Mahnmal für die österreichischen jüdischen Opfer der Shoah

   Medieval Jewish quarter to 1421; memorial 2000

   

   In front of you stands a closed library cast in concrete, its books turned spine inward so that no title can be read. The double doors have no handles and cannot open. Around the base are the names of the camps and killing sites where Austrian Jews were murdered.

   • Unveiled on 25 October 2000; designed by British artist Rachel Whiteread.
   • Commemorates more than 65,000 Austrian Jews murdered between 1938 and 1945.

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6. 6Looshaus

   Viennese Modernism, 1909 to 1912

   

   Compare the two buildings that face each other across Michaelerplatz: the domed, statue-crowned Michaelertrakt of the Hofburg, and this plain white block whose windows have no mouldings above them at all. The Viennese called it the house without eyebrows. Those copper flower boxes were the architect's concession to end the scandal.

   • Designed by Adolf Loos; commissioned in 1909 and completed in 1912.
   • Construction halted in 1910 after a public scandal over the bare facade.

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7. 7Hofburg

   Habsburg monarchy, 13th century to 1918

   

   You are at the edge of the courtyard called In der Burg, the heart of the Habsburg palace. Look for the red and black Swiss Gate of 1552, painted with the titles of Emperor Ferdinand I. Behind it lies the oldest courtyard, where the Imperial Treasury keeps the crown of the Holy Roman Empire.

   • First documented in 1279; Habsburg seat until the monarchy ended in 1918.
   • Swiss Gate built and painted by Pietro Ferrabosco in 1552.

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8. 8Prunksaal der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek

   Baroque, 1720s to 1760s

   

   You are on Josefsplatz, facing the front of the old court library. On the roof, Minerva drives a four-horse chariot, carved by Lorenzo Mattielli in 1726. The rider in the middle of the square is Emperor Joseph II, cast by Franz Anton Zauner on the model of Marcus Aurelius in Rome. The State Hall is entered from this square.

   • Ceiling frescoes painted by Daniel Gran between 1726 and 1730.
   • Holds about 200,000 volumes printed between 1501 and 1850.

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9. 9Augustinerkirche

   Gothic, 14th century

   

   From outside, this church barely shows, swallowed by the palace wings around it. Step inside and the tall white Gothic nave opens up, hung with chandeliers. Against the nave wall stands Antonio Canova's marble pyramid for Archduchess Maria Christina, with mourners walking slowly towards its dark open door.

   • Founded 1327 by Duke Frederick the Fair; consecrated 1 November 1349.
   • Parish church of the Habsburg imperial court from 1634.

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10. 10Albertina

    Habsburg palace, 18th and 19th centuries

    

    Look up at the raised terrace: you are below one of the last pieces of Vienna's old city fortifications, the Augustinian Bastion. The bronze rider up there is Archduke Albrecht, by Caspar von Zumbusch, and the thin roof jutting out over the entrance is the Soravia Wing, added by the architect Hans Hollein.

    • Collection founded in 1776 by Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen.
    • Holds about 65,000 drawings and around one million prints.

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11. 11Wiener Staatsoper

    Ringstrasse era, 1861-1869; rebuilt 1945-1955

    

    You are facing the first monumental building of the Ringstrasse, opened in May 1869 with Mozart's Don Giovanni. Look up at the five arches of the open loggia above the entrance: behind them, Moritz von Schwind painted scenes from The Magic Flute, and they survived the fire of 1945.

    • Built 1861 to 1869 by Sicardsburg and van der Nuell.
    • Opened 25 May 1869 with Mozart's Don Giovanni.

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