Vienna proper, the old town, is a Gothic city, but a very handsome one. The streets are in general broad and well paved; but the Places or Squares are small. With the exception of the Herrengasse, where the nobility reside, the rest of Vienna is inhabited by shopkeepers and wholesale dealers; and the shops are brilliant and well fitted up. The Kärnthner Strasse, a long and tolerably broad street, and the Kohlmarkt present the greatest display of wealth. Indeed the Kärnthner Strasse may be considered as the principal street; this street and the Kohlmarkt have a great resemblance to the finest parts of Holborn. The Graben also present a fine display of shops and may be termed the Bond Street of Vienna. The Sanct Stephans Platz where the Cathedral church of Vienna, called St Stephans Kirche, stands, is the largest Place in Vienna. The Cathedral is a very ancient and curious Gothic edifice, and the steeple is nearly 450 feet high. I happened to enter the Cathedral one day on the occasion of a solemn requiem celebrated for the soul of Prince Metternich's father. Had it been for the son, instead of the father, many an honorable man persecuted at the instigation of that most machiavelic of all ministers, might exclaim in making a slight alteration in a well known epitaph:
Cy-gît M—— ah! qu'il est bien
Pour son repos et pour le mien!
Among the other striking buildings in the old town is the Hofburg or Imperial Palace, a very extensive quadrangular building, with a large court in its centre. A Guard mounts here every day at eleven o'clock. It was in one of the saloons of this palace that the celebrated Congress of Vienna was held; a Congress whose labours will be long and severely felt by Europe and duly appreciated by posterity, who will feel any other sentiment but that of gratitude for the arrangements entered into there. The Hofburg was built by Leopold VII in 1200. This building, from its being extremely irregular and from its having received additions at intervals in the different styles of architecture, has been aptly enough considered as the type of the Austrian monarchy, and of its growth from a Markgraviate to an Empire; in this, by the continued acquisition of foreign territories differing from each other in manners and hi speech; in that, by the continued addition of various specimens of architecture and style of building in its augmentation.
VIENNA, Aug. 8th.
I am very well content with my abode at the Weisser Wolf, tho' it is not a first-rate hotel. They are very civil people, and I have an excellent and spacious room for two florins Wiener Whärung per diem. Lodgings are the only things that are dear in Vienna, every other article is, however, cheaper than in any other city I have yet been in. All kinds of Hungarian wine may be had at the most reasonable prices. I generally breakfast at a neighbouring Café in the Fleischmarkt for the sake of reading the Allgemeine Zeitung which is taken in there, and which is the only journal having a shade of liberality which is permitted in the Austrian dominions. From the hours of twelve to three, dinners à la carte are served at the Weisser Wolf. For two and half florins W.W., I get an excellent dinner with a bottle of Offener wine. The wine of Offen resembles much that of Bordeaux in its quality and flavor. The tariff however of the dinners and wines varies daily a few kreutzers, in consequence of the eternal fluctuation of the W.W., so that every morning a fresh tariff is affixed to the wainscot of the saloon where the dinners are served. Supper, served likewise à la carte, is at its full tide between the hours of eight and ten o'clock; and as Vienna is renowned for the celebrity of its beefsteaks and cutlets, called here Rostbraten, these and a salad seem to be the favourite dish for supper. My mornings I have hitherto passed in lounging about the Kärnthner Gasse, St Stephen's Platz, Kohlmarkt, etc. For an hour before dinner the fashionable promenade is on the rampart in front of the palace of Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen; in the evening on the Prater, in a carriage, on horseback, or on foot. The Prater is of immense extent and offers a great variety of amusements and sights. I generally return home at night pretty well fatigued from my rambles.
There is another great inconvenience at Vienna, resulting from the fluctuation of the current money, and this is that a stranger, dwelling at an inn, is sure to be disturbed five or six times in the morning, sometimes as early as five or six o'clock, by Jews who rap at his door to enquire if he wants to exchange gold and silver against currency or vice versâ. I used to lose all patience at being so disturbed in the morning, and was obliged in self-defence to put an affiche on the door of my room to this effect: "Man kauft und verkauft hier nichts; kein Wechsler darf hereintreten." "Here there is no buying and selling; no money changer is allowed to come in," and I hereby recommend to all strangers not to treat with these Jews, but on their arrival, or at any time they think fit, to go to a banking establishment in this city, where every day after eleven o'clock you can exchange your gold and silver for paper at the just rate of exchange, as published at the Bourse, paying only a very slight premium, and on leaving Vienna to go to the same establishment to change your superfluous Wiener Währung for Convenzions Münze or gold and silver money. For when the Jews tell you the rate of exchange is so and so, you conclude probably your bargain with them, and on enquiring at the Bourse you find that the Jew has made a percentage of six or eight per cent, out of you. Louis d'or are the best foreign coin to bring into the Austrian Dominions. Next to them in utility are the Dutch ducats, or Geharnischte Männer as they are termed, from the figure of the man in armour upon them. All other corns suffer a loss in proportion. The bankers in Vienna pay the foreign bill of exchange in Convenzions Münze, which you must afterwards change for Wiener Währung, the only current money in Vienna and Austria. But what makes it additionally troublesome is that here in Vienna there are particular payments, which must absolutely be paid in gold or silver or Convenzions Münze, and not Wiener Währung; for instance the franking of foreign letters at the post office, where they do not take the Wiener Währung. In vain you may intreat them to take the Wiener Währung at any rate they please; no! you must go elsewhere and buy from the first person you can meet with as much gold and silver as is required for the franking of the letters; so bigotted are they in the Austrian dominions to the letter of the law! This happened to me: I wanted to frank three letters for England and I went to the post office with Wiener Währung paper, not being aware of this regulation, and I was obliged to return to my Hotel, to lay hold of a Jew, and to buy from him as much gold and silver as was requisite for the franking of the letters.
At the Wechselbank or Bank of Exchange I have before mentioned, the crowd that attends daily is immense; but the business is carried on without hurry or confusion. You hand in your paper or your gold and silver coin, the clerk who receives it gives you an order on paper for the amount specified, which paper you take into another room and therein receive the amount. This establishment, however, remains open only two hours every day, between eleven and one I believe; so if you are too late for this interval of time, you must apply to the brokers, Christian or Israelite.
VIENNA, August 11th.
We left the old town by the Burg-thor, and crossing the Esplanade, directed our course to the Rennweg, one of the suburbs, in order to view the majestic edifice of St Charles, which is equal in the beauty of its architecture to many of the finest churches in Rome. Its façade and cupola render it one of the most striking buildings belonging to Vienna. We next visited the Manège and the Palace called the palace of the Hungarian Noble Guard. They are both beautiful edifices. The faubourgs of Vienna are built in the modern style and their buildings, both public and private, excellent in their way and in the best state. The streets of the faubourgs are broad but not paved. The most celebrated of these faubourgs are Maria Hülf, Leopold-stadt, Landstrasse, the Rennweg, the Wühringer Gasse; and I am persuaded that if the old town were united to the faubourg by means of streets and squares and the esplanade filled up with buildings, Vienna would perhaps be the handsomest city in Europe and the fourth in size, for the best buildings and palaces are in the faubourgs, viz., the Military College, the Polytechnic School, St Charles' Church, the Porcelain fabric, the Palaces of Esterhazy, Kaunitz, Stahremberg, Schwarzenberg, Palfy, and the beautiful Palace and ground of Belvedere in which last is a noble collection of pictures open to the public. At the Polytechnic school one of the principal professors is a friend of Mr F———'s, and he explained to us the nature of the establishment and the course of studies pursued. The apparatus for every branch of science is on the grandest scale. After dinner we repaired to the Prater, crossing a branch of the Danube which here forms several islands. The Prater requires and deserves particular mention. Part of it is something in the style of the Champs Elysées at Paris, and it is fully equal to it in the variety of amusements and enjoyments to be met with there; but it is far larger and more beautiful on account of its landscape and the diversified manner in which the grounds are laid out. The Prater, then, is an immense park, laid out on an island of considerable extent on the Danube. The nearest faubourg to it is the Leopoldstadt, which is also the most fashionable one, and a bridge conducts you from that faubourg direct into the Prater. The Prater presents a mixture of garden, meadow, upland and forest; the lofty trees arranged in avenues or in clumps give a delightful protecting shade. On the road destined for the carriages there is every afternoon a most brilliant display of carriages. Another avenue is destined for equestrians, and two avenues, one on each side of these two, for pedestrians. There are besides winding footpaths, that conduct you all over this vast extent of ground, and circular grass plots surrounded by trees where the pedestrian may repose and eat and drink if he will. Here are restaurants in plenty, cafés, Panoramas, exhibitions of wild beasts, swings, tennis courts, places for running at the ring, do for burlesque dramatic performances, farceurs, jugglers, De Bach's Equestrian Amphitheatre in the style of Franconi, Salles de Danse, baths, billiard rooms, gaming tables, and even houses appropriated to gallantry. In fact, the Prater is quite the Paradise of the bourgeoisie of Vienna, who are fond of the pleasures of the table and take every opportunity of making dinner and supper parties. The bourgeois of Vienna are far more sensual than spiritual and not at all disposed to self-denial.
Excellent hams and sausages are to be had here; and the Viennese who dines and sups heartily at his own house never fails, during his evening promenade, to take a tolerable good portion of ham or sausage, with a proportion of Offen wine or Maylander Beer, by way of staying his stomach during the tedious interval between dinner and supper. I need scarce add that smoking is universal, as indeed it is all over Germany, for I scarcely ever see a German without a pipe either in his mouth or fastened to his coat and a bag or pouch of tobacco either in his pocket or attached to his button hole. In the Prater dances often take place in the open air between the grisettes of Vienna, who are in general handsome and well made, and who dress well, and their lovers and admirers. The Prater was first opened to the public by the Emperor Joseph II. The Au-garten is another place of recreation and amusement, but on a smaller and much more tranquil and sober scale, than the Prater. None of the lower classes think of coming here, tho' it is open to every body decently dressed: there is not that profuse eating and drinking going forward. It is more properly speaking a promenade, and forms a garden with alleys of trees where music is often performed and there is a superb saloon where refreshments may be had. The Au-garten is frequented chiefly by the Noblesse and Haute Bourgeoisie. In the morning likewise it is a fashionable resort to drink the mineral waters. It adjoins the Prater, being on the same island. It was the favourite lounge of Joseph II, who opened it to the public by affixing this inscription on one of the gates: