A virtual tour of Vienna, from its beginnings to the present day

The city of Vienna has been culturally mapped out and you can already take an exploratory virtual tour of the first plans on the internet. Information and pictures about architecture, archaeology and the city's layout, as well as about public works of art and monuments, are available online for free.

Cultural assets online

At the beginning of January 2008, City Councillors Rudolf Schicker and Andreas Mailath-Pokorny presented the new internet website "Kulturgut Wien" (Vienna's Cultural Assets), where you can access information about 55,000 houses, 1,500 archaeological sites and 700 monuments erected up to the year 1918. Fountains, commemorative plaques, free-standing sculptures and sacral monuments are also documented. "When you're walking through the city, you often want to know more about a building - when it was built, who was the architect and so on. Now, you can get all this information at the click of a mouse," explained Vienna's Councillor for Cultural Affairs, Andreas Mailath-Pokorny.

Vienna's history

Extensive map documents show the development of Vienna's cultural history and city layout from its beginnings to the present day. Information about building typology, building periods, world cultural heritage sites or protected areas can also be found, as well as an extremely detailed aerial shot of the city taken in summer 2007. Search forms enable users to find exactly what they are looking for and offer easy access to the most important information.
The content is classified according to four main topics - architecture, public works of art, city history and city archaeology - which is designed to make finding the required information much easier for users.

Cultural assets register

The database isn't only useful for interested citizens. According to Rudolf Schicker, City Councillor for Urban Development, it can also be of great help for work at the City Hall. "The MA 19 (Municipal Department for Architecture and Urban Design) can also benefit greatly from the website," he said. He explained that it is no longer necessary for officials to work out sightlines for themselves. They can now establish online which areas need to be kept free of construction projects in order not to obstruct the view of important buildings. Everything which the MA 19 does can now be found on the website.

New technology

The municipal departments, MA 7 (Cultural Affaris), MA 8 (City Archives) and MA 19 (Architecture and Urban Design) have combined to establish the Viennese cultural assets register and, supported by the MA 14 (Automated Data Processing, Information and Communications Technology), have brought it technologically up to date.

The new cultural database is based on ViennaGIS, the Geographical Information System of the City of Vienna. This project is unique in the world today, and other large cities are expected to follow suit. The website is easy to use and run and the information can be accessed without difficulty. Unfortunately, not all applications currently work exactly as they should, but it must be remembered that the site is still in its infancy and Andreas Mailath-Pokorny guarantees that it will be continuously updated and developed.

Links

www.kulturgut.wien.at

Information:

Wiener Web-Flohmarkt In addition, an internet flea market has been set up on the City of Vienna website, wien.at. The Municipal Department of Environmental Protection has established this internet market as a platform for selling, swapping or giving away reusable objects. So you don't need to throw away anything that can still be used. Instead, you can sell, swap or give it away - a good opportunity to pass on unwanted items after Christmas. https://www.wien.gv.at/webflohmarkt/internet/