Those who want to look for abandoned and mysterious places and buildings will find what they are looking for in Vienna: The “Krone” has set out on a tour of discovery in and around the capital and has found five places that have already been forgotten. Not all places are open to the public, but the graceful ruins and buildings can also be admired from the outside.
Observatory Park Vienna-Währing
Arrived in Vienna-Währing, there is the observatory park. The Vienna University Observatory is hidden behind the enchanted foliage of the trees. The building is more than 135 years old and the largest structurally enclosed observatory in the world. Incidentally, there you will find the “Coudé”, long abandoned to decay, which had a telescope with a 38-centimeter lens for observing the starry sky as early as 1885. Astronomical and astrophysical research is still carried out at the observatory today.
Strasshof airfield
To the north of Vienna is the Strasshof airfield with its forgotten taxiway, which is now slowly disappearing. The official name of the war airfield was “Deutsch-Wagram Air Force Base”. The airfield was laid out from 1940 to 1941 and originally served as a training airport. At the end of the war, the National Socialists destroyed the runway and the buildings. The Soviet Army, however, restored the airfield and the barracks. In 1956, considerations began to prepare the airfield for civil aviation, but it was decided to expand Schwechat. The airfield near Deutsch-Wagram was forgotten.
Cemetery of the Nameless
Only a few signs along the way point to this place: People who were washed ashore by the Danube between 1840 and 1940 were buried at the cemetery of the nameless at Alberner Hafen in the Hafenzufahrtsstraße in Vienna-Simmering. Many of the fatalities are not known by name or cause of death. For some people, the identity could be clarified afterwards. This cemetery is the only burial site in the world that is exclusively reserved for the victims of a river.
Ruined villa in Dehnepark
The ruined villa is in the Dehnepark in Vienna-Penzing. The mystical building is hidden in the middle of the park landscape, under twigs and moss. The now abandoned, dilapidated and forgotten villa originally belonged to Princess Antonie von Liechtenstein. Acting and directing legend Willi Forst later took over the property. In 1969 he sold everything to the City of Vienna, which opened the park to the public in 1973. Even if you are not allowed to enter the ruin, people keep coming by to marvel at the dilapidated building from the outside.
Munitions factory on Lindenberg
Anyone who has had enough of the city bustle and wants to leave home for once can take a trip to the Baden district of Hirtenberg on the Lindenberg. You can hardly take five steps up there without finding remains of concrete from a cartridge factory. The ruins date from the Second World War, when forced laborers from the Mauthausen concentration camp were toiling in the “Gustloffwerke Hirtenberg” located here in 1944. After the war and the subsequent takeover by the Soviets, the entire Lindenberg plant was destroyed. Today it is slowly being reclaimed by nature.
But beware! In addition to the ruins, the tour of discovery could also include remains from the Second World War – such as cartridges. All ordnance is usually life-threatening and should be reported to the police.
Many abandoned places are partly privately owned, in danger of collapsing or not open to the public. It is recommended to only marvel at the mystical buildings and ruins from the outside or to use the official options in order to be able to enjoy the magic of decay safely and legally.