The Stadtpark (City Park) in Vienna, Austria is a large municipal park that extends from the Ringstraße in the Innere Stadt first district up to the Heumarkt (Hay Market) in the Landstraße third district. The park is divided in two sections by the Wienfluss (Vienna River), and has a total surface area of 65,000 square metres (28 acres). Scattered throughout the park are statues of famous Viennese artists, writers, and composers, including Hans Canon, Emil Jakob Schindler, Johann Strauss II, Franz Schubert, and Anton Bruckner. The opulent Kursalon building on Johannesgasse, with its broad terrace that reaches into the park, is the site of popular waltz concerts.
Sights in the park
The Kursalon at the water glacis, a spa pavilion was built, in which mineral water with healing properties was served. The current Kursalon building was built between 1865 and 1867 according to plans of Johann Garben. The opulent building in the historicist style of the Italian renaissance is located next to the Johannesgasse. A wide terrace reaching into the park is attached to it.
After it was opened on 8 May 1867 amusements were originally prohibited. However, since that concept was not accepted, it was changed, and Johann Strauss II gave his first concert here on 15 October 1868. The Kursalon thus became a popular place for concerts and for dancing, especially during the era of the Strauss brothers. Today, after undergoing some renovation, it is still used for balls, concerts, clubbings and congresses. There is also a Café-Restaurant inside it.
The gilded bronze monument of Johann Strauß II, is one of the most known and most frequently photographed monuments in Vienna. It was unveiled to the public on 26 June 1921 and is framed by a marble relief made by Edmund Hellmer. The gilding was removed in 1935 and laid on again only in 1991.
There are several other monuments, e.g. of Franz Schubert, Franz Lehár, Robert Stolz and Hans Makart; the Stadtpark is the park with the largest number of monuments and sculptures in Vienna.
