Spain

One of the buildings that are part of the “Burgplatz” in the Hofburg is the “The Reichskanzleitrakt” (The Imperial Chancellery Wing). Its architects were Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt and Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach and it was built in the first part of the 18th century during the reign of Charles VI. On the top of…

This year it is exactly 100 years since the great Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918, which killed some 25 million people worldwide – including around 20,000 in Austria. Although it is known as Spanish influenza, it likely originated in the United States and was transported by American soldiers to Europe in the last years of…

(Interested in the Habsburgs and Vienna? Don’t miss our tours: Vienna Behind the Scenes, Medieval Vienna, Secrets in the Heart of Vienna, and more.  Also in German and other languages!) Update (December 2019) Here a research paper confirming the “Habsburg Jaw” https://tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/03014460.2019.1687752 The Habsburgs were known for many things, but their good looks was not one…

If you have taken the trams 37, 38, 40, 41, or 42 from the station Schottentor, you will likely remember the name of the first stop: “Schwarzspanierstrasse” (The “Black Spaniard street” in English). Don’t you think the name sounds peculiar? In the 1620s, members of the order of Saint Benedict came to Vienna and built…