Tour Details
- Duration
- 3 hours
- Product Type
- Tour
- Venues
- Austrian Museum of Applied Arts
Photos & Highlights
- Marvel at stunning works of the Viennese Golden Age in this architecture tour
- Led by a local architect, scholar, or historian
Tour Description
As the 1800s slipped away and a new century dawned, Viennese artists like Gustav Klimt and Otto Wagner envisioned a new aesthetic that broke with the past—naming their movement the Vienna Secession. During this 3-hour, immersive Vienna architecture tour with a local historian or architect, we'll explore Art Nouveau and the birth of Modernism through the eyes of the creatives who made it happen.
Vienna Secession
We'll begin our trip back in time to Vienna’s Belle Epoque with a visit to the Museum of Decorative Arts, which boasts a fantastic collection of early 20th-century furniture and design, including Gustav Klimt's preparatory drawings for one of his most famous paintings. Here, we'll discuss the social and economic context of Vienna in the first decade of the century, when industrial progress and global trade began unraveling the Austrian monarchical system. During our visit to the museum, we'll also encounter the work of architect Josef Hoffman and the Wiener Werkstätte, an artists’ collective focused on decorative arts.
Vienna Architecture of the Golden Age
Our tour will lean heavily on architecture to help us visualize the radical effects of the Vienna Secession, visiting some of the most important buildings from this period. Otto Wagner left a permanent mark on the city with masterworks like the Vienna post office, as well his subway entrances that rival the work of French Art Nouveau masters. We'll also take a ride on the subway, itself a product of this period and very reflective of the new emphasis on technology and functionalism.
Artistic Visionaries
Depending on time and interest, we may also include a visit to the Secession House, a major work of Jugendstil architecture that features Klimt's “Beethoven Frieze.” Originally conceived as an exhibition hall, this space allows us to consider the exchange of ideas between the avant-garde in various cities across Europe as the continent teetered on the edge of World War I. At the end of our time together, we'll have a deeper understanding of the history of Vienna’s 20th-century artistic revolutionaries and the climate in which they created some of their greatest works of art and architecture.
(Looking for a general overview of Vienna? Try our Vienna Walking Tour. Looking to explore a different era of history? We suggest our  Schönbrunn Palace Tour).
Where You'll Start
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117 Reviews
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Alexa was great in that she told us exactly what we were going to do, and then tailored to the tour to a very hot day which was nice. We ended up making a couple of stops to get out of the heat and get some water and ice cream which was a nice way to cool down and regain some energy
Peter
Jun 21, 2024
Katharina was a perfect guide for the Vienna Golden Age Architecture tour. She provided the historical and aesthetic context that we asked for. One reason we came to Vienna was to learn about Otto Wagner, Josef Hoffmann, and the Vienna Secession in situ, and we finished the tour with a better understanding of those decades. Thank you Katharina and Context Tours!
Carol
Jun 6, 2024
Very boring tour. The guide spent 30 minutes look at the chairs.... Chairs! There is this beautiful city and we paid all this money to look at chairs?! We really thought about leaving early it was so boring at first. Once we left looking at chairs it got better but the guide would spot to look at an ipad. I want to look at the city not an apple product. felt like we spend half the time looking at an ipad and the other half looking at chair. Did not give great overview of the city, our free tour we did the next day, the tour guide knew and told better stories of the city. Overall was a very disappointing tour, the guide always felt annoyed with us too that we did not care about chairs. Would not recommend and very disappointed
Jake
Jun 2, 2024
