Historic bridges and fountains

Vienna has more than 1,700 bridges – four times as many as Venice. Also architecturally interesting are the many historic fountains that embellish Vienna's cityscape.

The Vermählungsbrunnen fountain (1729) in the Hoher Markt is one of the most important Viennese fountain monuments of the Baroque period. The present-day stone and bronze version stands in place of a wooden monument that Emperor Leopold I. had built when his son Joseph returned from the war unharmed. The Donnerbrunnen fountain (1739) on Neuer Markt also has an interesting history: the naked figures (allegories of the Danube's tributaries) were removed soon after Empress Maria Theresa established the Chastity Commission and will be exhibited in the remodeled Wien Museum from 2024. The Pallas-Athene Fountain (1902) in front of the Parliament building on the Ring shows river gods that embody the Danube, Inn, Elbe and Moldau. The Andromeda Fountain in the Old City Hall, the Austria Fountain on the Freyung and the Memorial Fountain to Empress Sisi in the Volksgarten are also worth a visit.

The nearly 1.500 drinking fountains and 55 monumental and memorial fountains are all situated on central squares and are ideal quiet points to take a pause.

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The Donnerbrunnen at the Neuer Markt — Donnerbrunnen fountain (1739) in the Neuer Markt – © WienTourismus / Peter Rigaud

Bridge over the Danube Canal — Schemerlbrücke – © Schaub-Walzer / PID

The Ehrenhof fountain in front of Schönbrunn — Fountain in front of Schönbrunn – © SKB, Foto Alexander Eugen Koller

Fountain in City Hall Park – © Schaub-Walzer / PID

Art Nouveau complex on the Wien — Perhaps the most beautiful bridge in the Stadtpark is the Wienportal, designed by the Viennese architect Friedrich Ohmann. – © MA 29 / Wurscher

The Wien river nestled between walls — Even in the subway you cross many rivers, often without noticing. The U4 crosses the Wien river here. – © MA 29 / Wurscher

Donnerbrunnen fountain (1739) in the Neuer Markt – © WienTourismus / Peter Rigaud

Schemerlbrücke – © Schaub-Walzer / PID

Perhaps the most beautiful bridge in the Stadtpark is the Wienportal, designed by the Viennese architect Friedrich Ohmann. – © MA 29 / Wurscher

Even in the subway you cross many rivers, often without noticing. The U4 crosses the Wien river here. – © MA 29 / Wurscher

As a city on the Danube, Vienna also has many bridges to offer: ten over the Danube, 32 over the Danube Canal, 40 over the Wien River, 271 U-Bahn bridges and many more. The U-Bahn developed from the metropolitan railway designed by Otto Wagner, which required the construction of several bridges. These constructions may have been built for purely technical reasons, but were designed down to the smallest detail and are therefore definitely worth seeing. They mark the cityscape of Vienna to this day. Small but mighty is the Konstantinsteg in the Vienna Prater, which was opened in 1873 and is therefore - concerning the original construction - the oldest bridge in Vienna.