Tour Details
Duration
3 hours
Product Type
Tour
Venues
- Austrian Museum of Applied Arts
- Secession Building
Photos & Highlights
- Marvel at stunning works of the Viennese Golden Age in this architecture tour
- Led by a local architect, scholar, or historian
Select a date
Tour Description
Notice: The 1900 Exhibition at the Museum of Decorative Arts will be closed from May 23rd to November 18th. During this period, your expert will replace the exhibition with a visit to the Beethoven Frieze at the Secession Building.
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.
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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121 Reviews
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We walked away not quite believing everything that our guide told us - and were proven correct about some misinformation when we glanced at a book about the Vienna Secession movement in the bookstore of the Secession Museum after the conclusion of our tour. He had gotten several key pieces of information incorrect and/or omitted some key facts.
The structure of the tour was very good - starting in the museum to see examples of Secession furniture, decorative arts, posters. We did not see as many buildings as we expected to see.
Given that our tour was a (expensive) private tour for 2, we were disappointed. Still, we did learn a good deal (although we aren’t quite sure how much of it was fact.)
We have now done 6 Context tours and have found the group tours to be better than the private tours - which has surprised us given the cost differential.
Julia
Reviewed on:
Sep 28, 2019
the tour was perfect, the guide is very knowledgeable and nice.
Avital
Reviewed on:
Sep 24, 2019
Piroska is an amazing guide - her English is excellent, her knowledge of the various architects and designers is comprehensive, and she can tell the story very compellingly in the historical context. She is flexible to change the tour given various interests. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Ellen
Reviewed on:
Aug 25, 2019
