Summer | Fotoeins Fotografie

25T68 Strauss family at Vienna’s central cemetery

E67, V15.

For the entire 2025 year, various events and exhibitions around Vienna celebrate the 200th birthday for “The Waltz King” Johann Strauss II (JS2). Born in Vienna, he is best known for composing the waltz “An der schönen blauen Donau” (On The Blue Danube).

At one corner of group 32A in the city’s central cemetery is this “portrait” view of 5 members of the Strauss family. The two daughters Anna and Theresia aren’t here, but along with JS2’s 1st wife Jetty Treffz, these three women are located at a single grave in Hietzing cemetery.

Number 1: Johann Strauss II, oldest brother.

Number 2. Johann Strauss I, father.

Number 3: Eduard Strauss, youngest brother.

Number 4: Josef Strauss, middle brother; Anna Strauss (née Streim), mother.

*The Strauss family: 5 of 7 members. Two daughters are buried at Hietzing cemetery. Numbers 1 to 4 correspond to the graves shown below.*

*Number 1: Johann Strauss II, oldest brother (32A – 27).*

*Number 2: Johann Strauss I, father (32A – 15).*

*Number 3: Eduard Strauss, youngest brother (32A – 42).*

*Number 4: Josef Strauss, middle brother; Anna Strauss (née Streim), mother (32A – 44).*

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 14 July 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

25T67 Vienna: a sunny summer Sunday

E66, V14.

After a couple of cool cloudy and drizzly days, the sun came back, along with solid summer temperatures reaching +30°C. I had a few goals in mind, from the 1. to the 19., with the 9th district in between.

*Ringturm tower (1.): 2025 wall mural titled “Verbindende Geschichten” (Stories and connections), created by Polish artist Marcin Maciejowski.*

*Next to the Ring Road this Neo-Gothic Votive Church (9.)*

*Casino Zögernitz (19.), heavy with the presence of both Johann Strauss I & II in the present-day House of Strauss.*

*Rail bridge for today’s U-Bahn U6 line, near Nussdorfer Straße station (18.)*

*Arboreal intervention into local architecture, originally in 1981 by Friedensreich Hundertwasser (9.)*

*South tower, St. Stephen’s Cathedral (1.); somewhere in this image is an embedded cannonball from the 1683 siege of the city by the Ottoman Empire.*

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 13 July 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

25T66 Vienna: concrete flak towers in the 6. & 7.

E65, V13.

In the 6th and 7th districts stand two massive flak towers, each over 40-metres (130 feet) in height. Including the cities of Berlin and Hamburg, the Nazis ordered construction in Vienna 3 pairs of flak towers. One pair (“pair number 5”) was completed by mid-1944. In each pair, one tower is the “Leitturm” or lead/control tower, and the other tower is the “Gefechtsturm” or gun tower. “Flak” is an abbreviation for the German word for “anti-aircraft gun”: Flugabwehrkanone.

Because of their near-indestructible nature, all 3 pairs or 6 flak-towers today are incorporated into the modern urban landscape of Vienna. The former Leitturm in the city’s 6th district is located in Esterházypark, and is home to the aquarium Haus des Meeres (Home of the Sea), including a historical description of the towers. The “partner” Gefechtsturm is located in the 7th district about 500 metres to the northeast within the Stiftskaserne complex, now in use by the Austrian federal ministry of defence and closed to the public.

*“Haus des Meeres”, former Leitturm or control tower for “pair 5” in Esterházypark. The height is 47 metres (154 feet).*

*“Haus des Meeres”, as seen from below on Gumpendorfer Straße.*

*At the back is the former Gefechtsturm or gun tower for “pair 5”, now located in the Stiftskaserne. The tower height is 45 metres (148 feet).*

*The view east of the Gefechtsturm (gun tower) at upper-centre is from Lindengasse towards Stiftgasse.*

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 12 July 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

25T65 Vienna at dusk: the Ring near Karlsplatz

E64, V12.

I’ve a lot to do by day that I often forget about good conditions at sunset and beyond into dusk. Waiting out the time a little longer beyond 9pm can be rewarding, especially because it’s summertime in Vienna.

I’ve written briefly about the Künstlerhaus and the Musikverein in my overview of “architectural historicism” on Vienna’s Ringstraße (Ring Road).

*Musikverein (T. Hansen, 1870): home of the Vienna Philharmonic, and the annual New Year’s Day concert.*

*Left to right, respectively: NEST, a trio atop Palais Lützow, Musikverein.*

*Künstlerhaus (A. Weber, 1868): home to the Albertina Modern.*

*Neue Staatsoper (NEST) im Künstlerhaus / New State Opera in the old Artists’ House).*

*Also notably marked by a white ‘U’ in a blue cube, this is the “Künstlerhaus, Musikverein” entry/exit from Karlsplatz U-Bahn junction station for lines U1, U2, and U4.*

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 10 July 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

25T64 Inside Prunksaal: Vienna’s imperial baroque library

E63, V11.

It’s a wonder there aren’t more accidental bumps into other people. Instead of heads down (on mobiles), everyone has their head up to soak in the glory, shimmer, and glow. Before raising their mobiles up for a picture or few …

In the early 18th-century, Habsburg Emperor Charles IV ordered the construction in Vienna of an imperial court library in the Baroque style. First designed by Johann Bernard Fischer von Erlach, his son Johann Emanuel completed construction in 1726 with ceiling frescoes added in 1730 from Daniel Gran.

As a big part of the Austrian State Library (ÖNB), the present-day Prunksaal (State Hall) houses over 200-thousand books spanning three centuries from 1501 to 1850. The digitized collection is available to the public from the library’s website; check also for (seasonal) opening times and purchasing tickets in advance.

*1st guest of the day, along the southeast-northwest length.*

*Emperor Charles VI: 1735 marble statue by Antonio Corradini.*

*Directly above the statue of Charles IV is a ceiling fresco by Daniel Gran in the 30-metre high dome.*

“… The fresco high up in the central dome shows the apotheosis of Charles IV: the divination and glorification as Emperor, as commissioner of the Library, and as patron of arts and sciences.” (ÖNB)

Lots of symbols, including obelisk/sunbeam, an imperial flag with “A.E.I.O.U.“, central “coin” celebrating Charles IV, personification of Vienna wearing a mural crown, a beehive with honey (“library containing sweet knowledge”).

*Book alcoves 80 (above) and 56 at the far end of the hall/library, next to the Peace wing (northwest).*

*Entrance wing to the library (southeast).*