Page 115 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Austria

FUR THER AFIELD  113

fully equipped with electricity,
and bathtubs and toilets were
added in the 1890s. Attractive
murals show scenes from
Shakespeare’s A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, designed by Hans
Makart and painted by the
young Gustav Klimt.
Today, Hermesvilla holds
exhibitions, while the stables
act as summer quarters for the
Lipizzaner horses from the
Spanish Riding School.
P Hermesvilla
Tel 80 41 324. Open Apr–Oct:
10am– 6pm Tue–Sun & public hols.
Hermesvilla in Lainzer Tiergarten, retreat of the imperial family ∑ wienmuseum.at
u Wagner Villas from encroaching on this
Hüttelbergstrasse 26 & 28. Tel 914 85 beautiful space. o Wotrubakirche
75. % Hütteldorf. @ 43B, 52A, 52B. The Tiergarten was opened Georgsgasse/Rysergasse. Tel 888 61 47.
Ernst Fuchs­Museum: Open 10am– to the public in 1923, and in @ 60A. Open 2–8pm Sat, 9am–
4pm Tue–Sat, by appointment Mon & 1941 the entire area was declared 4:30pm Sun and public holidays.
Sun. & 8 a nature reserve. Walks in the 8 by appointment.
woods and meadows of this
Hidden behind dense, leafy large park will transport the Standing on a hillside close to the
greenery, at the start of a road to visitor into another world. It is Vienna Woods, this church was
Kahlenberg, stand two villas built forbidden to disturb the designed in uncompromisingly
by the architect Otto Wagner. animals; bikes and dogs are modern style in 1965 by the
The oldest, built for himself, still banned, turning the reserve Austrian sculptor Fritz Wotruba
has some classical elements such into a true haven for wildlife. (1907–75), after whom it is
as Ionic columns, once favoured From the observation named. It was built in
by Wagner. It was meticulously platform on top of 1974–6 by Fritz
restored by the present owner, Kaltbründlberg, Gerhard Mayr. The
the painter Ernst Fuchs, who there are great church is made up
added his own colours and views over of a pile of uneven
established a museum. The villa Vienna and the concrete slabs and
is now a famous meeting place Vienna Woods. glass panels that
for Vienna’s artistic community A 15­minute walk provide its principal
as well as a venue for fund­ along paths brings Detail on the stables in lighting and views
raising auctions. The second you to the Hermesvilla for the congregation
villa, built some 20 years later, Hermesvilla. In 1885, out onto the hills.
was completed in pure Secession Emperor Franz Joseph I ordered The building is raw in style,
style. Privately owned, it can be a hunting lodge to be built here but powerful and compact.
viewed only from outside. and presented it to his wife The church looks different from
Elisabeth, in the hope that every angle and has a strong
i Lainzer this would stop her from sculptural quality. The central
Tiergarten perpetually seeking to escape section, consisting of 152
concrete blocks, can accommo­
the clamour of the city. He
Hermesstrasse. v 60 to Hermes­ did not succeed, but the date a congregation of up to 250.
strasse, then @ 55A. Tel 400 049 200. beau tiful Hermesvilla
Open daily. ∑ lainzer-tiergarten.at was built by Karl von
Hasenauer as a retreat
The Lainzer Tiergarten in the for the imperial family.
Vienna Woods, once an imperial The couple’s rooms
hunting ground, was enclosed were on the first floor;
within a 25­km­ (16­mile­) long Elisabeth’s quarters were
wall on the orders of Maria designed with flourish
Theresa. The wall still stands and elegance; Franz
today and successfully stops Joseph’s were much
herds of deer and wild boar more spartan. The villa,
escaping. It also prevents named after a marble
modern building developments statue of Her mes, was The sculptural Wotrubakirche

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