Vienna, Third District: Landstraße, Part IIMoving northwards, things change socio-demographically: First you will get to the Arsenal, a 19th century brick building that originally served as an army camp. It was built in a hybrid style of Italian Renaissance fortresses and Moorish castles – historicism at its worst. It now houses the very interesting “Heeresgeschichtliches Museum” or army history museum.
The main attraction is the Belvedere Palace and parks, which house the “Österreichische Galerie” or National Gallery of Austria. Here you can marvel at the World’s most extensive collection of Klimt – or show some deeper interest in art and recognise the high quality of the over-all exhibition of this great museum. The Belvedere is surrounded by other Baroque buildings: Churches like the Gardekirche, a Salesian nunnery and the Schwarzenberg Palace – still owned by the Schwarzenberg family of Austrian-Bohemian nobility. Beyond that, it serves a much more profane purpose – as a hotel. The North of Vienna's Third DistrictThe Schwarzenbergplatz Square is known for the Hochquellbrunnen Fountain, as well as the Soviet War Memorial and the many embassies nearby. Here you will also find the “Schoenberg Centre”, dedicated to the great innovator of composition. Diving back into the residential areas of the third districts, you should walk towards the Rochuskirche Church. Here you can see the pretty, Baroque church, surrounded by a market – or you walk further north to get to the well-hidden Palais Wittgenstein, a remarkable building designed by my fellow Austro-Cantabrigian Ludwig Wittgenstein. It is probably my favourite building in Vienna.
The Kunsthaus Wien houses an art gallery with usually rather mediocre exhibitions (at least in my humble opinion). Other attractions of the third district that might appeal to you are the Akademietheater theatre, the Konzerthaus concert hall and – for people with a specialist interest – the odd palace or the wild-card sights such as the Akademisches Gymnasium, the secondary school that many Austrian celebrities including Arthur Schnitzler attended. Return to "Vienna, Third District: Landstraße - Part I" back to "vienna travel guide"
Sightseeing Guides to Vienna's Districts1st District (Innere Stadt) - 2nd District (Leopoldstadt) - 3rd District (Landstraße) - 4th District (Wieden) - 5th District (Margarethen)- 6th District (Mariahilf) - 7th District (Neubau) - 8th District (Josefstadt) - 9th District (Alsergrund) - 10th District (Favoriten) - 11th District (Simmering) - 12th District (Meidling) - 13th District (Hietzing) - 14th District (Penzing) - 15th District (Fünfhaus) - 16th District (Ottakring) - 17th District (Hernals) - 18th District (Währing) - 19th District (Döbling) - 20th District (Brigittenau) - 21st District (Floridsdorf) - 22nd District (Donaustadt) - 23rd District (Liesing) Further ReadingThe Districts of Vienna: An Introduction |
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Keep on walking northwards across a dire park and you will get to an region that was developed in the
18th century: Public buildings like the Theresianum school and the
Diplomatic Academy as well as some of Austria’s finest Baroque palaces.
This part already belongs to the Fourth District of Wieden, though. Going north,
you will find the building that draws most of the touristy attention dedicated
to the third district. 
For a stark contrast on it – a hippie-trippie colour massacre from the 1980ies by
Friedensreich Hundertwasser, look for the “