Hohe Warte Wien
One of Vienna′s few Hills
The Hohe Warte is a densely populated hill in Vienna′s 19th district Döbling. It marks the border between the two historic villages (now both are part of Döbling and no villages at all) of Heiligenstadt and Unterdöbling. There is a street that is also called Hohe Warte, and it runs along this very border. In the early 19th century, the Hohe Warte was mostly agricultural land; gradually, an exclusive living area developed with lots of villas overlooking the seemingly ever-growing Vienna.
Today, the Hohe Warte area still ranks among the most exclusive parts of Vienna and many Austrians associate the name with the official residence of the Austrian president (alas, it has been sold a few years ago and is now a private residence). The other two things that the Hohe Warte is well-known for are the "Casino-Stadion", a "natural", green sport arena and stadium, as well as an institute of meteorology. The stadium is home to several sport clubs, including "First Vienna FC 1894 Wien", the Austrian National Rugby Team, and the Austrian National American Football Team called "Vikings Vienna".
The stadium comprises of the "green" central parts with rows of seats for visitors, and a natural extension into the surrounding hills. Since a refurbishment in 2005, the actual stadium can hold up to 5,500 people; however, visitors have been banned from the flanks of the hills for safety reasons. This has caused the stadium to drop in its significance.
Hohe Warte beyond the stadium & Attractions nearby
When the open-air stadium was opened in 1921, the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in the Prater did not exist yet and Casino-Stadion Hohe Warte was the biggest and one of the most modern sport stadiums in continental Europe. The stadium soon became a focal point for all sorts of public evens, such as opera performances, boxing tournaments, and - of course - football games. Back in the 1920ies, the Austrian national team in football was dramatically better than today′s, in fact, Austria played in the highest leagues. At one game Austria versus Italy, an impressive 80,000 people attended the match at the Casino-Stadion.
The Insitute of Meteorology and Geodynamics moved to the Hohe Warte in 1872. The building was designed by the famous Ringstraße-architect Heinrich von Ferstel (he of the Palais Ferstel and half a dozen of other representative buildings of this time). Most Austrians know the "Hohe Warte" as the place, where their daily weather forecasts are being made. Significant extensions to the building were made in 1957, 1967 and 1973 - the latter ones included the construction of a radar station.
Other things worth noting at the Hohe Warte are - apart from the view on Vienna - several nice private buildings and the public pool of Döblinger Bad. Getting to the Hohe Warte is easy by tram from the U4 station of Heiligenstadt. There are few attractions nearby, I recommend my general guide to Döbling for further details on sights in this district.
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Vienna by District
District Overview - 1st (Innere Stadt) - 2nd (Leopoldstadt) - 3rd (Landstraße) - 4th (Wieden) - 5th (Margareten) - 6th (Mariahilf) - 7th (Neubau) - 8th (Josefstadt) - 9th (Alsergrund) - 10th (Favoriten) - 11th (Simmering) - 12th (Meidling) - 13th (Hietzing) - 14th (Penzing) - 15th (Fünfhaus) - 16th (Ottakring) - 17th (Hernals) - 18th (Währing) - 19th (Döbling) - 20th (Brigittenau) - 21st (Floridsdorf) - 22nd (Donaustadt) - 23rd (Liesing) - Ringstraße - Surroundings
Further Reading
Official website of the Vienna Tourist Information
Hohe Warte Meteorology Station, Vienna
Wikipedia on the Hohe Warte, Vienna
