Pulse of the City

Vienna’ s Heartbeat: 

2000 years of Karlsplatz Karlsplatz is one of the most important locations in Vienna, loaded with contradictions, underestimated and full of secrets. The site has always been a place of hope for new urban processes. It is the home of some of Vienna’s major cultural institutions, including the Musikverein, Künstlerhaus and Secession. Nowhere else do so many paths cross or so many people pass through every day. For over 100 years Karlsplatz has been an experimental site for Modernists. Urban architectural beacons and visions have been concentrated there since the Gründerzeit. Many objects have remained temporary and controversial; Karlsplatz is “work in progress”, a remnant of utopian ideals.

Karlsplatz as a journey in time

The exhibition includes top-class works of art and rare historical items. The alterations and changes in the function of Karlsplatz are reviewed in a journey through time, accompanied by innovative 3D computer animations. The name “Karlsplatz” is relatively recent, coming about 110 years ago with the vaulting over of the Wienfluss. Prior to this, there had been fields, which were gradually transformed into a park. Windmills turned and the dead were buried here; the Turkish cannons were mounted on this site, and St. Charles Church presented a visible symbol of the Habsburg might.