I’ve been up to Kahlenberg hill a couple of times in past years, but coming up during weekdays meant I lost out on the lookout tower. A warm sunny Saturday is an opportunity to fix my error.
In 1887, the Kahlenberg railway company completed an extension of its cogwheel railway to the top of Kahlenberg (484 m/1588 ft). At the same time, the company constructed next to the railway terminus station a 22-metre high brick lookout-tower, named after the Crown Princess Stephanie of Belgium. The cogwheel railway is long gone, and there had been years when the tower was neglected or forgotten. Reopened to the public in 1992, the lookout tower is now managed and operated by Naturfreunde Döbling. The top of the Stefaniewarte lookout tower is effectively about 500 metres above sea level, providing 360° views of the city and surrounding area.
Open only on summer weekends in good weather, the tower is open until 6pm with 2€ admission. Public transport: S45- or U4-train to Heiligenstadt station, then bus 38A to Kahlenberg.
“Kronprinzessin Stefanie-Warte 1887”
The climb up the 120 or so steps was comfortable: wide deep steps, reasonable stairwell-clearing or -height.
To the northwest is the 165-metre tall Kahlenberg Transmitter tower which is not open to the public. The transmission tower is anchored by 3 pairs of cables onto 3 piers.
North. This is where the crescent of the Alps’ mountain range tapers to an end.
Southeast.
South. In the background almost 70 km in distance is the 2078-metre high Schneeberg.
Visible in this 4x digital zoom view to the southeast: DonauCity (DC) Tower 1, Danube river, Millennium Tower, Red Vienna’s Karl-Marx-Hof, the Prater and its Ferris wheel.
Visible in this 4x digital zoom view to the south: Müllverbrennungsanlage Spittelau, Ringturm, Votivkirche, Stephansdom, Peterskirche, Karlskirche, Oberes Belvedere, Hauptbahnhof complex, Arsenal communication tower, AKH general hospital.
I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 19 July 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.
French artist Henri Cartier-Bresson (HCB, 1908-2004) is considered a pioneer in the styles of candid- and street-photography. The phrase “decisive moment” is decidedly pithy in today’s vernacular, but what he advocated in that phrase is to hone in on the ability to gather all of the observable elements to construct an image, because that image might never come together or happen again.
When my own interest in photography grew, I understood I needed to learn what had come before. The HCB name and his photographs came up a lot in my study. To the here and now, seeing in person and to stand in front of the real prints of HCB’s photographs is a privilege, a true delight, and yet another learning opportunity that has come my way.
Established in 2022 as a national centre for lens-based media, Foto Wien got their wish and moved into their permanent home at the Arsenal grounds which once belonged to the Austrian military. On 21 March 2025, Foto Arsenal Wien opened its doors of Objekt (building) 19a to the public.
Over 200 items are on display in this retrospective exhibition of HCB’s career. As time passed, his images became noticeably less about surrealism, and more about photojournalism.
Foreground: Objekt 19a, Foto Arsenal Wien. Background: Objekt 24, A1 Telekom Richtfunkturm (radio relay tower).A1 is presently one of Austria’s 3 major mobile network providers, including Magenta and A3.
“Henri Cartier-Bresson: Watch! Watch! Watch!”, on display at Foto Arsenal Wien, from 28 June to 21 September 2025.
One of the most famous images by HCB: behind St. Lazare station at Place de l’Europe in Paris, France. 1932 image, 1950s-60s print. What’s exquisite is that moment where the tiny response time resides between the push of a button and the actual exposure on film before the inevitable splash.
Spain. 1933 HCB image, 1970s print. A beautiful image of radial symmetry with the trifecta of foreground, middle ground, and background.
Madrid, Spain. 1933 HCB image, 1970s print.
Valencia, Spain. 1933 HCB image, 1950s-60s print. Circles, squares, and the golden ratio means I can look at this image and find something to marvel at the construction and timing of the image.
Naples, Italy. 1960 HCB image, 1970s print.
The Wall at the corner of Bernauer Straße and Wolliner Straße, from West Berlin, Germany. 1962 HCB image, late-1970s print. While I grew up in the age of the Wall and I’ve digested as much imagery as possible of that time, my visits to Berlin and to this very street location long after the Fall of the Wall have always been a touch of the bittersweet in acknowledgment of those who tried but died trying to breach the wall.
Havana, Cuba. 1963 HCB image, 1970s print.
Moscow, Soviet Union. 1954 HCB image, 1954 print.
Kashmir region, disputed between India and Pakistan. 1948 HCB image, 1970s print.
Srinigar, within the disputed Kashmir region. 1948 HCB image, 1950s print.
I received neither support nor compensation for this piece. I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 18 July 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.
The Wien Museum at Karlsplatz extends its opening hours on Thursdays to 9pm, which gives everyone a better appreciation for its permanent collection in the examination of the city’s history that spans almost 8 centuries. The museum’s permanent collection is free of charge, but there is a charge to view the museum’s temporary exhibitions. The collection includes paintings, sculptures, posters, photographs, metalwork, various kinds of mementos and documents, and other forms of human keepsakes.
“The city of Vienna’s historical museum”
“Young Mother”, by Egon Schiele (1914). Schiele was a key figure in the early 20th-century Vienna Modernism cultural movement.
“Emilie Flöge”, by Gustav Klimt (1902). Klimt was another key figure in the early 20th-century Vienna Modernism cultural movement.
From 1904 to 1938, the three Flöge sisters operated their fashion and clothing shop in the Casa Piccola building on Mariahilfer Straße.
“Lady in Yellow”, Max Kurzweil (1899). The bright blue dot is a reflection of floor lighting.
The model for the painting was the painter’s wife Martha Kurzweil.
Poster: “A cry for help: read Bettauer’s weekly newsletter”. Writer Hugo Bettauer (1872-1925) fought against Article 144 of the Criminal Code which at the time made termination of pregnancy punishable with jail time of up to 5 years. He also fought against anti-Semitism and for the decriminalizing of same-sex couples.
Poster for the classic movie “Der Dritte Man” (The Third Man) which was filmed in post-war Vienna. I saw this movie in a small room at Vienna’s Burg Kino cinema house in 2022.
The people: they come, they work, and no surprise, they want to stay. (Re. post-war labour requirements to boost productivity and the economy.)
In 2000, the City of Vienna officially unveiled its memorial to Jewish victims of the Holocaust with a sculpture by British artist Rachel Whiteread. Situated at Judenplatz, the memorial takes on the form of an “inverted library” whose books are placed spine facing inwards. The image shows a “row of books” in detail (1996) as a model for the memorial.
“Closing time … take me home.”
I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 17 July 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.
By chance, the math happened to work out very well today. I wandered into three city districts for some “list clearing” activity. Here’s what I found, even with me ending up in the inner city.
15. Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus
As a boy, Friedrich Stowasser lived in the area with his Jewish mother, Elsa. In 1938, they were forcibly moved out to a relative’s apartment in the 2nd district, where they survived until war’s end. That boy became the artist known as Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000), whose influence is visible as an “onion dome” on top of the advertising column in the background. The City of Vienna inaugurated the small plaza in his name in 2007.
Onion dome. Hundertwasser.
5. Margareten
On the outside wall of the building at the corner of Leitgebgasse and Stöbergasse are three panels each protected by transparent plexiglass. Each panel is a visual record of what was required of residents during Allied air-raids in World War II.
The arrow shows the direction residents could go for additional shelter, pointing southeast towards Margaretengürtel (Margareten belt road).
The two arrows point to “NA” for Notausstieg, or emergency entry to an air-raid shelter below ground during World War II.
10. Favoriten
Ceramic mosaic of architect Eduard van der Nüll (1812-1868), by Fritz Rocca-Humpoletz (1894-1971). Van der Nüll and Sicardsburg designed Vienna’s Opera House whose public unveiling brought reviews so poor, they drove van der Nüll to despair and suicide.
Giant wall mural (2021), by Viennese artist nychos, at tram stop Knöllgasse. I saw this in June 2024, but to see this again in-person is neither chore nor burden at all.
1. Innere Stadt
Inside the Frauenhuber café.
“Yellow Fog”, by artist Olafur Eliasson for Verbund whose headquarters are located at Am Hof. The dynamic sculpture is active only at dusk.
I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 16 July 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.
Vienna’s Schottentor station serves the city’s U-Bahn U2 line, located close to the University of Vienna’s main building and the Votive Church. Next to the escalators from the University side of the station down to the train platforms are two “eyes” staring and blinking at each other.
Austrian artist Hofstetter Kurt installed “Einen Augenblick Zeit” (Just A Moment) in Vienna’s old Südbahnhof from 1994 to 2009. Towards the end of 2024, the sculpture got its new home in Schottentor station.
It’s a little unnerving to see a couple of metal eyes to and from the U2, but I’ve come to anticipate seeing at least 1 eye at Schottentor.
11-seconds on the up: 1258pm, 15 Jul 2025.
11-seconds on the down: 131pm, 15 Jul 2025.
I made the stationary image on 7 July 2025 and videos on 15 July 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.
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