Vienna’s dark side, told straight and labeled where it is legend. A square that was a graveyard, with gates locked at night. A court whose clock struck for no happy man, and the only woman Vienna ever sentenced to death as a witch. A drunken bagpiper in a plague pit, and the real street singer the death register could only call Augustin N. A fortress built against the city’s own people. A gate where the plague dead piled up. A monster in a well that turned out to be a stone. A doctor whose epitaph calls him beggar and nothing. And the professor who, in the same years, helped end torture and put new lamps on these streets. History, not horror: real people, named from the records, told with care. Made for the evening on lit streets, and just as good by day. No tickets needed.
The stops
- Stephansplatz: The Graveyard Under the Square
- The Hoher Markt: A Clock for No Happy Man
- The Fleischmarkt: Augustin N.
- The Dominikanerbastei: The Fortress That Faced the City
- The Stubentor: Shut at Night
- The Schönlaterngasse: The Basilisk in the Well
- The Old University: Who Stayed
- The Sonnenfelsgasse: The Man Who Lit the Lamps
Finding the start
Start on Stephansplatz at the far east end of St. Stephen’s Cathedral, on the open paving about ten meters from the rounded end of the choir. From the Stephansplatz subway station (U1, U3) walk around the right-hand (south) side of the cathedral, about 170 meters.
Terrain and access
About 2.2 kilometers on lit streets, almost level and step-free (the steps at the end of the Dominikanerbastei are avoided). Setts and cobbles in several lanes and on the university square, slippery when wet. No traffic lights: two zebras and otherwise crossings of quiet or shared streets. Made for the evening and usable by day; courtyards that close at night are avoided. Bars in the Schönlaterngasse and at the Stubentor are busy late. No admissions needed; everything is seen from outside.
Tickets
No admissions needed; everything is seen from outside.
Keep going
What you get
- An email from [email protected] with a link and an access code.
- Use it on your phone or tablet in an up-to-date web browser, no app store needed. There is no account to set up before you start.
- Download it on Wi-Fi before you go. After that it works offline: audio, text, map and pictures.
- Your booking includes 2 phones, so two of you can follow along, each on your own. Extra phones are $2.95 each, or a group can share one phone on its speaker.
- Play, pause and replay every part, skip back and ahead, or change the playback speed. Keep the screen on or tap play at each stop.
How it was made
Every fact in the narration is checked against a cited source, and legends are told as legends. The narration is written from that research. How our tours are made.
