In the immediate vicinity of the Burgtheater, the Vienna City Hall, and the Austrian Parliament, the Volksgarten, which opened in 1823, is still actually located on the vast grounds of the Vienna Hofburg. The east side, facing Heldenplatz, is designed in the English style with loose tree plantings. The other half, adjacent to the Ringstrasse, is laid out in French Baroque style.

The stars of the Volksgarten are the approximately 3,000 rose bushes, which include around 400 different varieties of roses. In late spring, they bathe the Volksgarten in its characteristically vibrant colors of red, pink, yellow, and white. Many of them bear personal dedications. The largest tree, an Oriental plane, is about 250 years old and is one of Vienna’s natural monuments. It is nicknamed the “Sisi Plane Tree.”

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Stone by stone

A monument to Empress Elisabeth, known as Sisi, is located near the Burgtheater in a separate, somewhat quieter section of the Volksgarten. Among the 67 designs submitted by renowned artists, the one by court architect Friedrich Ohmann was ultimately chosen. Ohmann also designed the Vienna River portal in the Stadtpark and the palm house in the Burggarten.
The 10.5-meter-high Theseus Temple in the center of the park is impossible to miss. The Swiss-Austrian architect Peter von Nobile designed this replica of the ancient Greek Temple of Hephaestus in Athens. A monument was also erected in the Volksgarten to the Viennese writer and playwright Franz Grillparzer.

Café, drinks and beats

The Stelldichein – Meierei im Volksgarten is a small but charming snack stand with a garden seating area. Open from early April to late September, it is the ideal meeting place in the Volksgarten – in part because of its name: a “Stelldichein” in Viennese means a rendezvous between two lovers – often in secret. Hopefully, no one here will have to hide from the public. Right next to it is one of the many historic and even heritage-listed public toilet facilities.
At the Volksgarten Pavilion, you can quench your thirst and satisfy your hunger. Barbecues are held here regularly in the evenings, unless there is a summer after-work event. Next door, for dance enthusiasts, is the Volksgarten club discotheque, affectionately called “Voga” by locals. The venue where people dance until the early hours of the morning today was the site of a performance of the instrumental version of Johann Strauss II’s Blue Danube Waltz on March 10, 1867.

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Year-round highlight

Like every park, the Volksgarten is particularly popular in spring and summer. But even during the colder seasons, the park has a lot to offer. When the green leaves of the trees turn yellow and orange, the Bundesgärten team prepare the roses for winter with jute sacks. If it snows in winter, the already white – and then snow-covered – Theseus Temple becomes an especially magical photo opportunity. 

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