Volksgarten

This green space around you used to be a fortress bastion called the Burgbastei. In 1809, Napoleon's troops occupied the city after crushing Austria in the War of the Fifth Coalition. They forced the Habsburgs to sign a humiliating peace treaty that cost Austria huge chunks of territory. Then, as a parting gift, they destroyed this fortification before leaving.

The Austrians decided not to rebuild. Instead, court architect Ludwig Gabriel von Remy turned the rubble into two parks: one private garden for the imperial family, and this one. The original plan was a private garden for the archduke. But the court administration had a better idea. Why not open it to everyone?

It opened in 1823 as the city's first public park. Within years, it became the place to be. Johann Strauss I and Joseph Lanner played concerts in the coffeehouse. The aristocracy strolled through. Couples walked the paths. All on ground that had once been a military fortification designed to keep enemies out.

The rose garden you see holds over 3,000 rose bushes representing more than 200 varieties. The white temple is a replica of an ancient Greek structure built to display a Canova sculpture. A battlefield turned into a rose garden.