BEETHOVEN'S VIENNA

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Back in 1970 my business partner and I were doing photography for Pan Am in Paris. With a few days off, we decided to fly to Vienna and do an assignment that I had for Opera News Magazine, photographing the various places in the Austrian capital associated with Ludwig van Beethoven. Several years later, in 1979, as part of my Great Trips / Europe project I was able to use photos from this trip on one of my brochure guides. This was the result:

NOTE: This material is nearly 30 years old, so some of it is out of date. But not much. With a few changes, you should be able to easily take the same Little Adventure today. Ask at your hotel, the local tourist office, or consult a good guidebook*.

Beethoven's Vienna

A One-Day Trip in Vienna

Great Trips / Europe #48

INTRODUCTION:

Vienna during the 18th and 19th centuries was the unchallenged world capital of music, a magnet that attracted the talents of many young composers intent on rising to the top of their art. Perhaps the most famous of these émigrés was Ludwig van Beethoven, born 1770 in Bonn, Germany. His musical gifts became apparent at an early age and were exploited by an alcoholic father, a musician in the chapel of the Elector. Having gained the attention of the local nobility, the boy was sent at their expense to Vienna in 1787, where he received lessons from Mozart. Within weeks, however, his mother died and he returned to Bonn, soon to be faced with the task of supporting his now unemployed father and two younger brothers. Rising above his petit bourgeois origins, the young Beethoven became close friends with several members of the aristocracy, and it was through them that, in 1792, he again went to Vienna; there to spend the rest of his life.

Beethoven's position in the history of music can hardly be overestimated. He was the transitional force between formal classicism and romanticism; the first to successfully abandon pretty tunes for richer mining in the emotional depths of the human soul. He was probably also the first musician to earn a living exclusively on a free-lance basis, unconnected with any court. Although he had his share of financial difficulties, Beethoven was never poor. Nor did he lack acclaim; his works being well received throughout most of his career. Vienna, indeed, was very fortunate to claim this pivotal talent as one of its own.

During the thirty-five years preceeding his death in 1827, Beethoven had a great many different addresses in and about Vienna, having moved no fewer than seventy-nine times. This was due more to his tempermental nature than to landlord problems, as is commonly supposed. While many of these dwellings no longer exist, a few have been preserved and four now contain small museums of his life. Our trip will visit those that are most significant in understanding the composer's genius. We begin in the elegant suburb of Baden, traveling mostly by tram through Vienna, and wind up in the wine-producing foothills north of the city, there to perhaps enjoy a glass or two of heurige in Beethoven's own backyard.

Before you start out on this delightful adventure, however, I would like to add one small disclaimer. In Beethoven's time accurate records were not always kept of the comings and goings of each citizen; it is therefore possible that a few of the places may be more legend than fact. The composer himself, perhaps from having moved so often, was rather casual about addresses, so that in two cases, that of the Baden House (4) and the Testament House (10), no hard evidence exists proving that he actually lived there and not in a neighboring building. Please accept both in the spirit of symbolic memorials rather than proven fact and enjoy their contents — which are genuine.

TRANSPORTATION:

You will be using streetcars — trams — for most of this trip, a colorful way to see most of the city at the same time. For the sake of convenience, and to save a few schillings, you should purchase a 24 hour transit pass, called a 24 STUNDEN NETZCARTE, at a local tobacco shop in Vienna. Validate it in the device provided on board the tram (or bus or in the subway station) at the beginning of the first ride, then retain it throughout the day.

The streetcar that goes to and from Baden — the BADNER BAHN — is privately owned and does not accept the pass. You will have to pay a cash fare both ways. If you have a Eurailpass or Austria Ticket, you can save money by taking the regular tram to the South Station (Südbahnhof), there boarding one of the frequent railroad trains to Baden. The insert map of Baden shows the location of both the train station and the terminus of the Badner Bahn.

TIME AND WEATHER:

This trip should be made in warm weather, between late April and late October, when the Beethovengang is at its most charming, the Heurigen are open, and the museum in Baden is operating. Everything is closed on Mondays, and the Baden Museum on Thursdays. Sundays and holidays present limited hours and little tram service. Therefore, make the trip on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday. As little walking is involved, the day does not have to be particularly nice, so long as you are suitably equipped. Be sure to start out by at least 8:30 AM — the Baden museum closes at 11.

FOOD AND DRINK:

Upon returning from Baden, you will be in the area of the Opera (1) just in time for lunch. Within a few blocks are numerous restaurants of every description. After this, however, the pickings are slim until you get to the end at Heiligenstadt, where there are a few eating places as well as the charming café in the Beethoven House ar no. 2 Pfarrplatz (10), which also serves food.

THE TRIP:

Begin at the streetcar stop of the Badner Bahn on the Ring diagonally opposite the Vienna Opera (1), a central point that is easy to reach. There board the large and wonderfully old fashioned tram to Baden, paying your fare to the conductor. Passing along city streets, through suburbs, and finally open countryside, you will find the 70-minute journey to be both interesting and enjoyable. Upon arrival at the Baden terminus of the line, Josefs Platz (2), follow the insert map a few blocks to the Beethovenhaus (4) at no. 10 Rathausgasse.

If you have elected to take the regular railroad instead, begin your trip at the Südbahnhof station in Vienna, which can be reached from the Opera by the D line tram and from other parts of the city via tram, bus, Schnellbahn, or subway; all covered by the transit pass. There is no point in taking the regular train as opposed to the Badner Bahn unless you have a Eurailpass or Austria Ticket and wish to save a few dollars. Upon arrival at Baden Station (3) follow the insert map to the Beethovenhaus (4).

During the latter years of his life, Beethoven occupied several different houses in Baden, a town he favored for both its aristocratic atmoshere and noted hot springs, believing that exposure to the latter would alleviate his deafness. This faith, of course, was in vain and the great tragedy is that he never heard his own Ninth Symphony — although he sat with the orchestra at its premier. By tradition, the house you now visit is the one in which he wrote that consummate work. With a quiet simplicity characteristic of all his lodgings, this small museum speaks volumes about his life. To the casual observer, such tiny quarters seem out of place in light of his fame and social recognition. It must be realized, however, that Beethoven kept as many as four different apartments at the same time to satisfy his constant restlessness. Myblogbeethoven5 As you now see it, the room is clean and tidy, quite the opposite of the slovenly conditions in which he always lived.

While in Baden it would be interesting to see some of this elegant resort town, so long favored by royalty. The short walks shown on the insert map will take you to the Casino and Kurpark (5), the main square, and back to either the Badner Bahn terminus (2) or the station (3).

Returning to the Opera (1) in Vienna, either board the D tram on the Ring in the direction of Nussdorf and take it to Schottentor, or walk there following Augustin Strasse and Herrengasse. The house at number 8 Mölkerbastei, known as the Pasqualati House (6), sits atop what remains of the old city walls. Beethoven lived here, on and off, for a total period of eight years, mostly between 1804-08 and 1810-14. The landlord, a Baron von Pasqualati, was an admirer of his and assisted him in legal matters. The apartment on the fourth floor, now a museum, is up a narrow staircase and has an excellent collection of Beethoven memorabilia.

Cross the Ring at the Schottentor underpass and follow Währinger Strasse a few blocks to Schwarzspanier Strasse. At this intersection board the G2 streetcar in the direction of Hohe Warte, in Heiligenstadt. As the tram runs along Döblinger Hauptstrasse keep an eye on the house numbers to the right. Get off at no. 92, just past Pokornygasse. This is the Eroica House (7), in which Beethoven composed much of his Third Symphony during the year 1803. Both the house and the neighborhood, once rural, have undergone great changes. The four rooms in which the composer lived have been recently restored to their original condition and may be visited. A small collection of keepsakes is displayed.

Return to the streetcar stop and continue on by tram in the same direction to Hohe Warte, the end of the line. Get off and walk straight ahead on a footpath into Heiligenstädter Park, where you will find a remarkable monument (8) commemorating Beethoven's stays in that village. Turn left on Grinzinger Strasse and follow it two blocks beyond the church to no. 64, the home (9) in which he composed his Sixth Symphony, the Pastorale, in 1808. It is not open to the public but its exterior is much the same as it was in those days.

Return to the intersection by the church and turn left on Armbrustergasse, then make a right onto Probusgasse. Enter the doorway at no. 6. In the courtyard there are two small museums (10), both up short flights of stairs. It is traditionally assumed that this is the house in which Beethoven wrote his profound Heiligenstadt Testament of 1802, a letter to his two brothers in which all of the grief and despair brought on by ever-increasing deafness is poured out in an emotionally charged document. Be sure to read the English translation.

Continue along Probusgasse to Pfarrplatz, where the house at no. 2 (11) is now a heurigen, serving both new wine and food. The composer lived here in 1817. Although the rooms cannot be visited, you may very well enjoy sitting at one of the tables in the courtyard and trying the local product. But first stroll a few blocks up the quiet Eroicagasse to the Beethovengang (12). Here a footpath to the left follows a tiny brook in a setting of rural tranquility, along which the immortal musician often strolled, gathering the strength that manifests itself in his work. At the end you will find the earliest memorial to his genius, erected in 1863.

Retrace your steps to the Eroicagasse, at which point you can either return to Pfarrplatz for some wine and food, or continue along the stream to Nussdorf (13), the end of the line for the D tram, which goes back to the Opera (1).

AGAIN, please remember that I wrote this nearly 30 years ago, so some changes must be expected. If you intend to make this trip yourself, be sure to check locally for up-to-date information. This is especially true concerning transportation.

*AND THAT GOOD GUIDEBOOK IS NOW HERE!

Daytrips Austria

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