VIENNA INTRODUCTION The Ring

As I mentioned, the Ring is a grand avenue, about five kilometers long, surrounding Vienna Old Town.

Getting your bearings in Vienna is easy: the cathedral's pointed spire marks the center of the city, with its well-organized system of squares and grand buildings. Stretching around the central district is the Ring, whose broad avenues have taken the place of the old city walls. Lined with imposing buildings that alternate with pleasant green spaces, the Ring takes the visitor on a stroll through time and architectural styles.

This inspired urban planning concept came from an idea by the Emperor Franz Joseph, who came to the throne in 1848.

He came to power at the age of just eighteen, succeeding his uncle Ferdinand I, a legitimate but feeble-minded emperor who was forced to abdicate, and his father Franz Karl, who was deemed unfit and ready to relinquish the throne in favor of his son.

Franz Joseph's idea was for the Ring to be surrounded by the monumental buildings of government, culture, and science, and to restore the image of a solid, luminous empire, thanks also to the gas-powered street lighting.

But how did the project come about?

Few people know that the transformation of the city walls into a series of boulevards in many cities in Europe was inspired by the urban planning intervention carried out by Baron Haussmann in Paris. Interestingly, the Vienna Ring also has an unintentional French origin: in 1809, during the occupation of Vienna by Napoleon's troops, the French army blew up a section of the ramparts. The large opening was never closed up, and as the rubble was cleared, the esplanade was planted and turned into a garden. This is the vast urban space formed by what is now Heldenplatz and the adjacent Volksgarten: an excellent starting point for a walk around the Ring, in an anti-clockwise direction.

An interesting fact: In 1862, to celebrate the demolition of the ancient walls, Johann Strauss wrote the Demolierer Polka, a composition dedicated to the hard work of the demolition workers who tore down the medieval ramparts, giving rise to the Ring.