HOFBURG, Michaelerplatz

The main façade of the Hofburg is a striking, dramatic complex of architecture and decoration conceived in the last years of the 19th century in exuberant neo-Baroque style.

Like a veritable theatrical backdrop, the façade, topped by a dome, is arranged in a semicircle to embrace an entire side of the bustling Michaelerplatz. At the ends of the façade, you can see two fountains crowded with statues representing "dominion over land and seas" by the Habsburg empire.

The square, in the subsoil of which archaeological remains of the ancient Vindobona (Roman Vienna) were found, is named after the historic Church of St. Michael, of medieval origin. Although the church has undergone many changes over time, it still retains some Romanesque and Gothic parts inside, highlighted by recent restorations. Beneath the church is an underground area that forms the Michaelergruft (St. Michael's crypt), used between the 16th and 18th centuries as a burial place for aristocrats and personages of the imperial court.

Predominant in the square is the eclectic and monumental style beloved by Emperor Franz Joseph, with magnificent, elaborately decorated palaces and historic meeting places, such as Café Griensteidl, frequented by writers and intellectuals between the 19th and 20th centuries.

A famous exception is the Looshaus. One of the city's most famous and controversial private buildings, it was built in 1910 by Adolf Loos as a business and multipurpose facility, and later converted into a bank. The structure is linear, functional, and very simple, in stark contrast to the pompous, eclectic style that surrounds it. The emperor could not stand this "house without eyebrows," as he used to call it.

The furious controversy over the outrageous lack of decoration compared to the ornate facade of the imperial palace was resolved with a simply yet effective solution: pots of geraniums placed outside the windows!

An interesting fact: There is a peculiar museum inside St. Michael's Convent, called Time Travel Vienna. The fascinating interactive effects encountered along the multimedia route take visitors on a journey through two millennia of the city's history, including music, monuments and personalities, in less than an hour.