Landstraße
Landstraße
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3rd District of Vienna | |
 Landstraßer Hauptstraße at the Rochusmarkt, in the heart of the district | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Location of the district within Vienna | |
| Country | Austria |
| City | Vienna |
| Government | |
| • District Director | Erich Hohenberger (SPÖ) |
| • Representation | 60-member district council: SPÖ 22, Greens 15, FPÖ 7, NEOS 7, ÖVP 6, KPÖ 3[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 7.42 km2 (2.86 sq mi) |
| Population (1 January 2025)[2] | |
• Total | 98,881 |
| • Density | 13,300/km2 (34,500/sq mi) |
| Postal code | A-1030 |
| District Office | Karl-Borromäus-Platz 3 A-1030 Wien |
| Website | www |
Landstraße (Austrian German pronunciation: [ˈlantˌʃtʁaːsə] ⓘ; Viennese: Laundstrossn; literally "country road") is the 3rd municipal district of Vienna, Austria. It lies immediately south-east of the Innere Stadt, the historic centre, and forms part of Vienna's inner districts. The modern district was created in 1850 from the formerly independent suburbs of Landstraße, Weißgerber and Erdberg.
Landstraße contains some of Vienna's best-known monuments and cultural institutions, including the Belvedere, the Hundertwasserhaus, the Arsenal, the Vienna Konzerthaus and KunstHausWien. It is also home to numerous embassies, the Austrian Mint, the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, the Austrian State Archives and important transport connections centred on Wien Mitte railway station. In 2025 the district had 98,881 inhabitants.[3]
Geography
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Landstraße covers 7.42 km2 (2.86 sq mi), about 1.8 per cent of Vienna's total area. The Danube Canal forms much of its eastern boundary, while the Wien River separates it from the Innere Stadt to the north-west. It borders Leopoldstadt to the north-east and east, Simmering to the south-east, Favoriten to the south-west and Wieden to the west.
The district lies on several terraces formed by the Danube. For an inner district it contains a relatively large mixture of residential districts, parks, institutional areas and former industrial land.
District parts
The district was formed from three historic suburbs:
- Weißgerber, in the north between the Danube Canal, the Wien River and Marxergasse. It is now predominantly residential and includes the Hundertwasserhaus, KunstHausWien, Statistics Austria and the Wien-Mitte judicial complex.
- Landstraße, the central and western part of the district, containing the Belvedere palaces, numerous embassies, the Stadtpark, Arenbergpark, the Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and the Austrian Mint.
- Erdberg, east of Landstraßer Hauptstraße and south of Marxergasse. Its southern part has traditionally contained industrial and commercial areas; today it also includes the headquarters of Wiener Linien, the Austrian State Archives and large redevelopment areas around Sankt Marx.
Other commonly recognised neighbourhoods or Grätzl include the Fasanviertel and Sankt Marx. The Arsenal and adjacent territory were transferred from the 10th district to Landstraße in 1938.
History
Early history
Archaeological traces of settlement in the present district date to the Bronze Age. The area was settled by Celts from the 9th century BC and later formed part of the civilian settlement associated with the Roman military camp of Vindobona. Roman roads crossed the district, and the centre of the civilian town lay in the area of the later Aspang railway station. The settlement was destroyed during the upheavals of the late Roman period.
Before the first Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1529, a convent dedicated to Saint Nicholas stood near the present Rochusmarkt, giving the surrounding settlement the name Nikolai-Vorstadt. The suburbs outside Vienna's fortifications were heavily damaged during both Ottoman sieges of the city.
The routes through the district led eastwards towards Hungary and south-eastern Europe. The name Ungargasse ("Hungarian Street") reflects this historic function, and the statesman Klemens von Metternich is traditionally credited with the remark that "the Balkans begin at the Rennweg".
Creation of the district and urban growth
The present 3rd district was created in 1850, when the suburbs of Landstraße, Weißgerber and Erdberg were incorporated into Vienna. The new district also included Sankt Marx and territory extending towards the city's former outer defensive and customs line.
During the second half of the 19th century Landstraße changed rapidly. Embassies and upper-middle-class residences developed around Reisnerstraße and the western part of the district, while the Fasanviertel grew between Rennweg and the Gürtel. Erdberg and Sankt Marx became centres of industry, slaughterhouses and the city's central cattle market. The removal of the old Linienwall from 1894 opened further areas to urban development.
Around 1900, substantial late-Historicist and Secession-influenced apartment buildings were constructed around Dannebergplatz, Esteplatz and the Weißgerberlände. Although Landstraße had long been associated with middle-class residents, industrialisation and the arrival of workers changed the social character of parts of the district. During the interwar period, Vienna's municipal government built a number of large Gemeindebau housing estates, notably the Rabenhof and Wildganshof.
National Socialism and the post-war period
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During the Nazi period, thousands of Jewish Viennese were deported from the former Aspang railway station to ghettos and extermination camps in eastern Europe. The Platz der Opfer der Deportation (Square of the Victims of Deportation) commemorates them. Two large Flak towers were built in Arenbergpark during the Second World War and survive today.
After 1945 the district continued to change as industrial land was redeveloped and transport infrastructure expanded. Since the early 1990s the U-Bahn line U3 has provided a direct underground connection through the district. The redevelopment of Wien Mitte railway station between 2007 and 2013 and large-scale projects in Erdberg and Sankt Marx have further transformed the district.
Population
Landstraße had 88,678 inhabitants in 1869. Rapid urban development nearly doubled the population to 166,981 by 1910. The population then declined during the 20th century, particularly after the First World War and again during and after the Nazi period; the persecution, expulsion and murder of the district's Jewish population formed part of that decline. After further losses during the 1960s and 1970s, the population reached a low point around 2001 before beginning to grow again.
On 1 January 2025 Landstraße had 98,881 residents.[4]
Culture and sights
Belvedere and historic architecture
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The Belvedere is the district's most prominent architectural complex. The Upper and Lower Belvedere were built in the early 18th century for Prince Eugene of Savoy and are surrounded by formal Baroque gardens. Today they house the Austrian Gallery Belvedere, including a major collection of Austrian art and the world's largest collection of paintings by Gustav Klimt.
The Belvedere also occupies an important place in modern Austrian history. After the signing of the Austrian State Treaty on 15 May 1955, Foreign Minister Leopold Figl appeared on the balcony with the signed document; the words "Österreich ist frei!" ("Austria is free!"), spoken inside the palace after the signing, became one of the defining images and phrases of the Second Republic.
Other historic residences include Palais Schwarzenberg and the Palais Razumovsky, built in 1806 by Louis Montoyer for the Russian ambassador Prince Andrey Razumovsky.
Churches
The district contains a number of important churches. The Baroque Rochus Church was rebuilt after the destruction caused by the 1683 Ottoman siege. The church and convent of the Salesian Sisters were built between 1717 and 1728 and later served as a residence for the dowager empress Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg. The Guard Church on Rennweg, built between 1754 and 1763, is today associated particularly with Vienna's Polish Catholic community.
The neo-Gothic St. Othmar under the White Tanners, completed in 1873 to designs by Friedrich von Schmidt, has an 80 m (260 ft) tower. The Russian Orthodox Cathedral was completed in 1899 and remains a major centre of Russian Orthodoxy in Vienna. The district also contains Serbian Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic and Protestant churches.
Parks and cemeteries
Landstraße contains several important parks and former aristocratic gardens. The gardens of the Belvedere were laid out for Prince Eugene of Savoy in the early 18th century. Nearby, the Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna traces its origins to a medicinal garden established under Maria Theresa in 1754. Other green spaces include Arenbergpark, Modenapark, the Stadtpark and the Schweizergarten.
The Stadtpark, opened in 1862 on the site of the former glacis, was the first public park created by the Vienna city administration. St. Marx Cemetery, laid out under Emperor Joseph II, is now preserved as a park and contains the memorial at the approximate burial place of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Museums and cultural institutions
The Austrian Gallery Belvedere is one of Vienna's major art museums. KunstHausWien, designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, contains a permanent exhibition of his work. Nearby are the Museum of Art Fakes and the Hundertwasserhaus itself, an apartment complex whose irregular forms, vegetation and colourful façades have made it one of Vienna's best-known works of late-20th-century architecture.
The Museum of Military History is housed in the Arsenal and covers the military history of the Habsburg Monarchy and Austria. The district also contains the Remise Transport Museum, the Arnold Schönberg Center and the Landstraße District Museum.
Major performance venues include the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Akademietheater, which forms part of the Burgtheater, and the Arena, a concert and cultural venue in the former industrial area of the eastern district.
Part of western Landstraße lies within the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Centre of Vienna. The core zone includes the Belvedere, Schwarzenbergplatz, the Stadtpark, the Konzerthaus and the Akademietheater.
Modern architecture
The district includes several important examples of modern and contemporary architecture. The House of Wittgenstein, built in the 1920s for Margarethe Stonborough-Wittgenstein, was designed by the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein in collaboration with Paul Engelmann. The Hundertwasserhaus, completed in the 1980s, is one of the best-known buildings by Friedensreich Hundertwasser.
More recent developments include the T-Center in Sankt Marx, designed by Günther Domenig, and the TrIIIple Towers on the Danube Canal. The former slaughterhouse and cattle-market area at Sankt Marx has been extensively redeveloped for housing, offices, media and research facilities.
Economy and institutions
Historically, the settlements of Erdberg and Weißgerber were associated with vineyards, market gardening, tanning, slaughtering and other trades that were often excluded from the old city because of noise or smell. From the late 18th century onward, manufacturing and industry expanded rapidly and attracted workers from throughout the Habsburg Monarchy.
Today Landstraße combines residential districts with government, cultural, commercial and research institutions. Organisations based in the district include the Austrian Mint, Statistics Austria, the Austrian State Archives, Wiener Linien, Austrian Post, Magenta Telekom and the Vienna BioCenter area around Sankt Marx.
Transport
The district's principal transport hub is Wien Mitte/Landstraße, on the site of the former Vienna harbour of the Wiener Neustadt Canal. It is served by the Vienna S-Bahn, regional trains and the City Airport Train.
The U3 crosses Landstraße from Wien Mitte through the district towards Erdberg station, while the U4 runs along the north-western boundary between Landstraße and Stadtpark station. The main S-Bahn line serves Wien Mitte, Rennweg and the area near the Belvedere; the airport branch leaves the main line at Rennweg.
Tram routes 1, 18, 71 and O serve the district, together with several bus routes. By road, Landstraße is connected to the A23 and A4, the latter providing a direct route towards Vienna International Airport and eastern Austria.
Notable residents
People who have lived in, worked in or were closely associated with Landstraße include:
- Ludwig van Beethoven, composer, who lived on Landstraßer Hauptstraße from 1817 to 1819
- Ludwig Boltzmann, physicist
- Erwin Schrödinger, physicist
- Robert Musil, writer
- Adalbert Stifter, writer and painter
- Hugo von Hofmannsthal, writer and librettist
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer, who lived in Landstraße in 1787
- Gustav Mahler, composer
- Friedrich Gulda, pianist and composer
- Joe Zawinul, musician
- Ingeborg Bachmann, writer, who lived in the district from 1946 to 1953
- Fred Zinnemann, film director
- Thomas Klestil, diplomat and President of Austria
References
- ↑ "3., Landstraße – Elections to the District Council 2025". City of Vienna. Retrieved 29 August 2026.
- ↑ "Population by citizenship, sex and municipal district, 2025". City of Vienna. Retrieved 29 August 2026.
- ↑ "Population by citizenship, sex and municipal district, 2025". City of Vienna. Retrieved 29 August 2026.
- ↑ "Population by citizenship, sex and municipal district, 2025". City of Vienna. Retrieved 29 August 2026.
Further reading
- Helmut Kretschmer, Landstraße: Geschichte des 3. Wiener Gemeindebezirks und seiner alten Orte (Vienna: Jugend und Volk, 1982), ISBN 3-7141-6216-X.
- Birgit Trinkler and Michael Strand, Wiener Bezirkshandbücher. 3. Bezirk Landstraße (Vienna: Pichler Verlag, 2002), ISBN 3-85431-246-6.
- Alexander Stollhof and Doris Weißmüller-Zametzer (eds.), Die Landstraße 1933–1955: ein Bezirk schreibt sein Buch (Vienna: Böhlau, 2006), ISBN 3-205-77536-8.
External links
- Official district website (in German)
- Landstraße District Museum (in German)
48°11′47″N 16°23′45″E / 48.19639°N 16.39583°E
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