During the late 19th century Vienna experienced a rapid population expansion, and a modern system of public transportation became essential. The city’s leaders engaged urban planners to draw up metro lines to connect the suburbs with the city center along the Ringstrasse.

The architect chosen for this assignment was Otto Wagner. From the beginning, his aim was to create a metro design that would be iconographic, easy to recognize, and highlight Vienna’s cosmopolitanism. It was not surprising that he chose to work in the international avant¬-garde Art Nouveau style.

On this 2.5-hour guided tour you’ll visit 2 of the remaining stations, where you’ll begin a discussion about Viennese Art Nouveau and its ideological underpinnings.

Starting out at the beautiful pavilion at Karlsplatz, you’ll visit the small Wagner Museum and then walk to the Stadtpark station, which is the best-preserved of the original metro stations still in use.

Your next metro stop is Kettenbrücke station. Along the way you’ll visit the famous Sezession House, the icon par excellence of Viennese Jugendstil. You’ll also see 2 beautiful apartment houses designed by Otto Wagner. Learn more about the philosophy behind Art Nouveau and consider the symbols and materials favored by its practitioners.

From Kettenbrücke station, step onto the metro for your last stop, which is a visit to the imperial station. This outstanding building was erected outside Schönbrunn solely for the emperor to use.

The crown jewel of the line, this station had a symbolic meaning as well, namely to show critics of Vienna’s metro that the emperor supported the line. Note the methods used by Wagner to translate the generally bourgeois style of Art Nouveau into an aesthetic with imperial grandiosity.