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Walking Tour: Baroque Architecture in Vienna
Guide Location: Austria » Vienna
Guide Type: Self-guided city tour
# of Attractions: 9
Tour Duration: 3 hour(s)
Transportation Mode: by foot
Travel Distance: 6.1 km
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Gryffindor
Author: leticia
Vienna is home to a vast number of impressive Baroque buildings. Liechtenstein Palace, Palais Schönborn, Hofburg and Belvedere Palace show the great beauty of this architectural style in the face of palaces and imperial residents. Peterskirche and Karlskirche represent charming Baroque church architecture. On this tour, you will discover the wonderful Baroque style of Vienna’s fabulous buildings.
Tour Stops and Attractions
Liechtenstein Palace
1) Liechtenstein Palace
The Liechtenstein Garden Palace is one of the premier Baroque palaces in Vienna. It was built under Prince Johann Adam Andreas I of Liechtenstein and currently contains one of the world’s most gorgeous and significant private art collections. There are dozens of masterpieces, from the Early Renaissance to Austrian Romanticism, on display here.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Gryffindor
Palais Schönborn
2) Palais Schönborn
Palais Schönborn was built at the beginning of 18th century and is located in Josefstadt, the eighth district of Vienna. This beautiful Baroque palace includes the Museum für Volkskunde and houses excellent artworks from Europe's most significant artists.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Gryffindor
Peterskirche
3) Peterskirche
St. Peter's Church (Peterskirche) in Vienna is a church with a long and eventful history. The Peterskirche was transferred in 1970 by the Archbishop of Vienna Franz Cardinal König to the priests of the Opus Dei. The construction of the  Baroque church was begun around 1701 under Gabriele Montani. The design was inspired by the St. Peter's Basilica of the Vatican in Rome. The church makes an overwhelming impression on the visitor with its surprisingly rich interior filled with golden stucco. The turreted dome was mainly designed by Matthias Steinl, who was also responsible for the interior decoration and the pews with their fabulous cherubic heads. The gilded ornate pulpit is a magnificent sculpture by Matthias Steinl (1726) with on top of the canopy a representation of the Holy Trinity. 
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Gryffindor
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek
4) Österreichische Nationalbibliothek
The Austrian National Library (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, abbreviated "ÖNB" and formerly Hofbibliothek), is, with 7.4 million items in its collections, the largest library in Austria. It is located in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna; since 2005 some of the collections find themselves in the baroque Palais Mollard-Clary. Founded by the Habsburgs, the library was originally located in the current Prunksaal building and called the Hofbibliothek, changing to its current name after 1920. Altogether, the National Library has more than seven million objects, of which approximately three million are printed.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Stemonitis
Hofburg (Hofstalungen)
5) Hofburg (Hofstalungen)
Hofburg Palace is a palace located in Vienna, which has housed some of the most powerful people in Austrian history, including the Habsburg dynasty, rulers of the Austro-Hungarian empire. It currently serves as the official residence of the President of Austria. It was the Habsburg's principal winter residence, as the Schönbrunn Palace was their preferred summer residence. The Hofburg faces the Heldenplatz ordered under the reign of Emperor Francis Joseph. The Palace is so popular and famous that it was the main motif of one of the most famous silver collectors' coins: the 20 euro Renaissance commemorative coin.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and DanielZanetti
Neue Hofburg
6) Neue Hofburg
Neue Hofburg, or New Château, was an incredible addition to the Hofburg Imperial Palace. Its construction began toward the end of 19th century and concluded at the beginning of 20th century. The Neue Hofburg palace was the residence of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Gryffindor
Karlskirche
7) Karlskirche
The St. Charles's Church (Karlskirche) is a church situated on the south side of Karlsplatz, Vienna. It is located on the edge of the 1st district, 200 metres outside the Ringstraße. It is one of the most outstanding baroque church structures north of the Alps, and boasts a dome in the form of an elongated ellipsoid. Ever since Karlsplatz was restored as an ensemble in the late 1980s, the Karlskirche has garnered fame due to its dome and its two flanking columns of bas-reliefs, as well as its role as an architectural counterweight to the buildings of the Musikverein and of the Vienna University of Technology. The church is cared for by a religious order and has long been the parish church as well as the seat of the Catholic student ministry of the Vienna University of Technology.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Gryffindor
Belvedere Palace
8) Belvedere Palace
The Belvedere is a baroque palace complex in the formal French manner with gravelled walks and jeux d'eau, in the 3rd district of Vienna, south-east of the city centre. The architect Johann Lukas von Hildebrand, one of the most important architects of the Austrian Baroque, was the one who produced the complex of buildings : Lower Belvedere (garden villa, with an orangerie and paintings gallery, with suitable living quarters) and Upper Belvedere (originally intended simply to provide a suitable end to the main garden axis). Since World War I, the Austrian Gallery museum resides in the Belvedere.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Gryffindor
Barockmuseum (Österreichisches Barockmuseum)
9) Barockmuseum (Österreichisches Barockmuseum)
Barockmuseum, or Österreichisches Barockmuseum, represents the Austrian Museum of Baroque Art. You will find the museum in the lower Belvedere Palace. Its collection of the 18th century Austrian Art is quite unique.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and David Monniaux
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