Ver Sacrum
Duration:
2 hours
2,500 gilded laurel leaves
glisten in the sun.
The Secession, where Klimt’s monumental Beethoven Frieze speaks to our longing for happiness, marks the end of this Art Nouveau tour, which begins at Stubenring: Otto Wagner’s Postsparkasse with its aluminium ventilation columns and riveted façade breaks with all previous architectural traditions.
Not all contemporaries were able to come to terms with this sudden leap into modernity: whilst the Secession was merely mocked as a ‘temple for tree frogs’, a building within sight of the Hofburg provoked sheer horror and triggered one of the city’s greatest architectural scandals.
Golden mosaics and ornaments, sweeping lines and geometric patterns: on our route through the heart of Vienna, we encounter pioneering architectural gems, a moving music clock and even a fully functional Art Nouveau toilet.
