Vienna is one of Europe's most majestic cities, crafted to be the monumental capital of a wealthy and powerful empire that once stretched throughout the middle of the continent and then quickly disappeared after the First World War. Wandering through its grand boulevards and rich buildings you can still feel the echoes of this grand past and rather unjustly this city has often been described as a bit conservative, haughty, reflective of a now distant past and prisoner of a faded splendour.

Urban metro systems are the lifeblood of most cities; tens of thousands of locals and visitors alike use them on a daily basis. Travelling on often crowded trains can be unpleasant, but in many cases the experience is made more appealing by the fact that in many European cities the metro systems also double as art galleries, showcasing designs and works of famous artists. Station platforms, ticket halls, passageways, accesses reflect art trends, visions, ambitious plans – or maybe just the desire to create spaces people could feel comfortable and at ease into, even while doing something quite ordinary like commuting from A to B. 

So when you travel in these six cities below, perhaps from one museum to another, don't forget that there is an awful lot of amazing architecture and art below ground, not just above... 

LONDON 

Why it's so special

London has one of the most famous metro systems in the world and yet many people forget that it also a huge architectural treasure trove. The man behind such legacy is Charles Holden. Holden designed some of the most iconic Art-Deco stations on the network in the 1920s and 1930s, together with the HQ of London Transport, situated right above St James' Station and the imposing Senate House at London University in Bloomsbury. A key defining moment of Holden's work is when he travelled to Germany, Scandinavia and the Netherlands in the early 1930s. After this journey his projects displayed a stronger European/Scandic influence. 

What to look for

One of Holden's first project was a string of stations on today's Northern Line, between Clapham North and Morden. These South London stations, built in the mid-1920s have a typical Modernist look and are characterised by the white Portland stone cladding, huge ticket halls and the iconic Underground roundel in coloured glass, framed by two columns at the front. Another of Holden's creations was the beautiful and functional large circular ticket hall of Piccadilly Circus station. After his trip to Northern Europe, Holden designed the stations on the Northern and Western extensions of the Piccadilly line. One of my favourite is Southgate, which looks like a flying saucer. Another very interesting station is Gants Hill on the Central Line: this station is entirely below-ground and was designed in the 1930s but because of the war was not completed until 1947. Here Holden experimented with a grand vaulted ceiling, a style he saw in the Moscow metro.

PARIS 

Why it's so special

Paris Metro boasts probably one of the most recognisable designs, particularly the famous entrances to the subways, which were designed by architect Hector Guimard. In fact Monsieur Guimard designed two types of entrances, one with a glass roof and one without; both are iconic example of French Art-Nouveau, built in cast iron and displaying the classic botanic symbolism associated with this style. Sadly of the 141 entrances built between 1900 and 1912 only 86 remains as many were (criminally, I'd say) removed in the 1960s. 

What to look for

Although not all the Guimard's distinctive entrances were torn down, unfortunately just two roofed accesses remain, one at Porte Dauphine and another at Abbesses. The inside of all the stations built in the same period (i.e. before WWI) is quite austere and with the famous white glossy bevelled rectangular tiles. The reason for the stark choice was that electric lighting was very rudimental at the time and so this design allowed for a better refection of the light. When the new North-Line was built (now line 12 and part of line 13) the design was improved adding arches of coloured tiles – the colour to mark interchange from ordinary stations. The best preserved station in this very distinctive style is Solférino.

STOCKHOLM

Why it's so special

Stockholm metro (Tunnelbana) was developed in the 1950s, at a time of strong cultural and artistic expansion in Sweden. Being the city located on a number of islands, the tunnels had to be dug very deep, in fact right into the bedrock - and in most stations the bedrock itself has been left magnificently exposed, adding to the cavernous and almost pre-historic atmosphere. In the 1960s and 1970s the then Social-Democratic government decided that art had to be available to everyone, not just displayed in galleries and therefore commissioned a number of projects for the Tunnelbana, transforming it in what is now called 'the longest art museum in the world'. Get a day-pass and take time to explore the Tunnelbana network - which is also a sensible option in case of bad weather.

What to look for

There are several stations worth mentioning, but I'd note in particular T-Centralen, where in the 1970s the artist Per Olof Ultvedt honoured the workers who built the station by painting their silhouettes (and his own) on the walls and ceilings. At Solna Centrum, Anders Åberg and Karl-Olav Bjork painted a fiery orange/red, hellish landscape above a Scandinavian pine forest, running for almost 1km along the walls, a statement again deforestation that was taking place in Sweden in the 1970s. 

Östermalmstorg features stark charcoal-coloured drawings showing key female figures from history: it is the work of feminist and peace advocate artist Siri Derkent in the early 1960s. Don't be surprised by the cold and haunting atmosphere of this place; the artist wanted to highlight that this station was designed to double as a shelter in case of nuclear attack. At Rådhuset, the artist Sigvard Olsson created a pink underground grotto, complete with various imaginary archeological findings, including a mock chimney stack base.

VIENNA

Why it's so special

Vienna Stadtbahn was built at a time of Austro-Hungarian imperial opulence and splendour, between 1894 and 1901. Although several lines were originally planned, only part of the network was eventually built and in the 1980s the Stadtbahn was incorporated into the city's U-Bahn system - it now constitutes lines U4 and U6 of the system. The style of some of the stations built at the turn of the 20th century reflects the Jugendstil/Art-Nouveau architecture, which in Austria found its expression in the Vienna Secession manifesto, a movement of artists who objected to the prevailing conservatism of the Vienna cultural establishment with its traditional orientation toward Historicism.

What to look for

he two above-ground buildings part of the (former) Karlsplatz Station are some of the finest examples of this style and were designed by Otto Wagner and Joseph Maria Olbrich, both members of the above mentioned Secession movement (the latter was in fact a founding member of it). These stations, with their distinctive steel framework and white marble slabs became the most modern, innovative, revolutionary (and thus controversial) buildings in Vienna at the time. Believe it or not, they were both scheduled for demolition in the 1980s, but thankfully the resulting public outcry managed to save them and today one of them houses a small museum and the other a cosy café. Another beautiful Art-Nouveau station is Kettenbrückengasse - also designed by Secessionist architect Otto Wagner.

ATHENS

Why it's so special

Compared to other European cities Athens metro system is fairly new as the bulk of the network was built from 1991 onward, though Line 1 is actually an old rail link between the city the Piraeus port that opened in 1869. However the tunneling of the other two lines under such an ancient city led to the discovery of over 50,000 artifacts, making it the biggest ever archaeological excavation ever made in the Greek capital. Many of these art treasures are now displayed in the stations, which means that metro travellers can almost journey back in time in time, rather than just from place to place.

What to look for

Syntagma Metro Station is where many of the artifacts discovered during the tunneling have been put on display and it is not unrealistic to say that this is now a huge, if slightly unusual, museum of Greek and Roman local antiquities. Here metro passengers can view Roman baths, an ancient aqueduct, marble tombstones, and even a mosaic from the fifth century AD. Archaeologists have also included a very educational geological cross-section – each layer of earth is testimony to a different period reaching back to prehistoric times, starting with Byzantine times, moving down through Roman, ancient Greek, and finally prehistoric. Indeed, a travel back to ancient times.

BERLIN

Why it's so special

As in other cities, Berlin started developing its metro (U-Bahn) system at the turn of the 20th century and also in the German capital we found one man behind most of the architectural design of the stations. Swedish architect Alfred Grenander worked on the U-Bahn stations design from 1902 until 1930, including the viaducts between Nollendorfplatz and Kreuzberg, which proved highly controversial at the time. Sadly he was almost forgotten after his death in 1931, but his designs are strikingly modern and still welcome thousands of Berliners and visitors alike today.

What to look for

Grenander's style evolved over the course of his work on the U-Bahn. Wittenbergplatz station, which opened in 1913 and was partially rebuilt after being damaged in WWII is arguably his masterpiece, a stunning example of Art-Nouveau. Toward the late 1920s his style became more modern and functional and we can see this at Hermannplatz (1926) and Alexanderplatz (1930 - his last work): here we find coloured glazed tiles, riveted steel columns or grand pillars covered by tiles and exposed beams.

Apart from Grenander's style, Berlin's U-Bahn is a fantastic mixture of modern and old, which means that every station is different and a real pleasure to explore.

Vienna is a city with an incredibly rich history. Wandering around its street, admiring its lavish palaces and buildings, breathing in its Imperial grandeur is simply extraordinary. And whilst Vienna today is a forward-thinking, open and tolerant city, even in the past it has been home to a few prominent gay historical characters.

Below are the interesting and somehow curious stories of seven of these characters - and the locations behind their stories. 

Madame l'Ancienne, a.k.a. Prince Eugene of Savoy - The Belvedere

The Belvedere Palace with its lavish gardens was once set amidst the Viennese countryside and was the lofty summer residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736), one of the most influential (and unlikely) gay figures in Imperial Vienna. The Prince was not the most attractive man and he was rather short in height – but he happened to be a very brilliant military strategist. He came to Austria at the age of 19 when his mother got caught in a scandal in his native France. It was there and because of this scandal that King Louis XIV had refused him to join his troops, so he ganged up with the Duke of Turenne, and shocked the court of Versailles by putting on women's clothes. Not that he was new to these antics – we even know that his 'drag names' were Madame Simone or Madame l'Ancienne.

Eugene arrived at a rather turbulent time for Vienna: the city was being besieged by the Ottomans and his military talents allowed him to gain victory in a decisive battle against the Turks in 1683.

The art-loving Prince served under three emperors — Leopold I, Joseph I and Karl VI — and won triumphantly in battles against the Turks, who at that time ruled all over South-Eastern Europe. One of his major victories was the liberation of Belgrade from Turkish rule. The architecture of Belvedere Palace refers to these victories by imitating the form of Turkish army tents in the green roofs of the building.

Eugene never married and there are no accounts of him having any relationship with ladies, which must have been pretty unusual at a time when the pressure for conformity was overwhelming.

Emperor Karl VI's and his 'Close Friendship' - The Karlplatz

Just downhill from the Belvedere is the imposing Karlsplatz where the biggest Baroque church in Vienna (Karlskirche) is linked to another very important (and likely gay) historical figure: Emperor Karl VI (1685–1740).

He himself was the founder of this church, which is dedicated to his name saint - St. Charles Borromeo, but also the father of the famous Austrian monarch Maria Theresia. The Emperor was rumoured to have a rather intimate relationship with Count Michael Johann III Althan, who had the privilege of being one of the very few persons accepted in the intimate circles of the egocentric and pretty reserved Emperor. Was it close manly friendship or clandestine gay love? We'll never know for sure and clearly very few details are known about the true nature of the relationship, but we know that Karl VI lavished several palaces on Althan in Vienna, apparently so that the two men could remain close at hand. He also once wrote about Althan upon his death as "my truest servant, my heart's friend, who loves me as I have loved him for nineteen years in true, profound friendship. 

Schubert's Last Symphony - Kettenbrückengasse 6.

Composer Franz Schubert died of Syphilis at his home in Kettenbrückengasse 6, on 19th November 1828. Supposedly this was caused by the only sexual experience Schubert ever had with a woman. Talk about bad luck!

That's because from this one very big mishap, "Franzl" concentrated his desires on male partners. In fact for more than two years he shared his studio - and his bed - with the well-known gay librettist Johann Baptist Mayerhofer. Their feelings for each other are reflected in several of Mayerhofer's librettos for Schubert's compositions, and in their joint opera project "Adrast", which was never realised.

A Partnership in Work and Life - The Opera House

The imposing building of the Opera House is the work of architects Eduard van der Nüll and August Sicard von Sicardsburg who were partners in business and in life. Sadly, this project also marked the tragic end of their relationship: when the two started working on the design, the level of the new Ringstrasse had not yet been set. But by the time the construction started, the street level had been raised by one metre, so the optical effect on the Opera House was not particularly good. It looked – and still looks – as it had sunk into the ground, which is also why the ramps on either side do not really qualify as ramps. As public criticism mounted, even the Emperor Franz Jozef expressed his disappointment with the final product. Tragically, Van der Nüll – always on the depressive side – committed suicide on 3rd April, 1868. Only ten weeks later, on June 11, Sicardsburg died too, apparently of a "broken heart."

Luziwuzi's unwelcome antics - The Kaiserbründl Baths

The younger brother of Emperor Franz Josef, Archduke Ludwig Viktor, was tenderly called "Luziwuzi" by his friends, and who was commonly known at Court for his malicious tongue and his predilection for wearing women's clothes.

His mother tried to get him married several times, without success. Instead he concentrated on building up his own art collection and had a city palace erected on Vienna's Schwarzenbergplatz - Palais Erzherzog Ludwig Viktor, according to plans designed by Heinrich von Ferstel. Here Ludwig Viktor held several rather 'gay' parties.

Perhaps rather unsurprisingly, the Archduke's favourite past time apart from partying and collecting art was to visit the ornate and upmarket "Centralbad" - today the Kaiserbründl gay bathhouse. On one of his visits there the Archiduke caused a big scandal when an officer of the Austrian army slapped him in the face after Luziwuzi had made some obviously unwelcome sexual advances in the steam room. This interesting episode is another reason to visit this amazing (and vast) place, even if you have been to many other saunas, as this one is pretty spectacular with its Arabesque style and refined ambiance.

Anyway, due to this slapping incident his brother and emperor, who had been somehow tolerant of his brother's outrageous behaviour up to that point, forbid Ludwig Viktor to remain in Vienna and 'exiled' him to Schloss Klessheim near Salzburg, well away from saunas and the capital's limelight. Here Archduke Luziwuzi died in 1919, aged 76.

A tale of forbidden love - Schönbrunn Palace

Isabella was born in Madrid in 1741, the daughter of the Infante Felipe of Spain, Duke of Parma and his wife Louise Elisabeth, eldest daughter of Louis XV of France. In 1760 a marriage by proxy was arranged between Isabella and Archduke Josef of Austria, heir to the Habsburg Monarchy.

After Isabella's arrival in Vienna, Joseph was thrilled with his new bride and overwhelmed the queen with his love. In return, she increasingly locked herself away, so much so much that she quickly plunged into melancholy. It appears that the cause for this feeling was the fact that Isabella spent most of the time with Josef's sister Maria Christina. The two women loved each other deeply. During the few years Isabella and Christina knew each other, they exchanged 200 letters and "billets" while living at the same court. They spent so much time together that they earned the comparison with Orpheus and Eurydice.

Isabel and Maria were united not only by a shared interest in music and art but also by a deep mutual lesbian love, unfortunately something that in their circumstances and in those days had to remain secret. Every day they wrote long letters to each other in which they revealed their feelings of love. But while the letters of Maria Christina showed her happy nature, Isabel's feelings were mixed and, in her expressions of affection, showed a certain pessimism, reflecting her growing obsession with death.

Isabella suffered several miscarriages and in 1763, she fell ill with smallpox and gave birth three months premature, to a daughter, Maria Christina, who died a few hours after birth. A week later, Isabella followed her daughter in death at Schönbrunn Palace. 

When to visit

Discover and enjoy...

• 

  St Stephen’s Cathedral

  The centre of Vienna is dominated by the imposing St Stephen’s with its gothic spires and its colourful roof covered in glass tiles – over 200,000 of them! If you fancy a bit of exercise you can climb to the top of the main tower (137 metres and 343 steps high) and be rewarded by amazing views over the city.

  Find out more

• 

  Visit the Emperor’s Palaces & Treasures

  When Vienna was the centre of a vast empire, the royal couple would live in the majestic and historical Hofburg in the centre of the city and the Schönbrunn Palace – their summer residence, just outside Vienna’s heart. The latter boasts a whopping 1,441 rooms and an amazing collection of Baroque and classical art. Most of the Emperor’s rich art collection is on show at the Kunsthistorische Museum.

• 

  Immerse yourself in Art

  In the early 1900s Vienna became the capital of Jugendstil, a branch of Art Nouveau. A real and total break from the traditional art of the time with floral & natural themes. Admire these masterpieces, such as Klimt’s famous ‘Kiss’ at the Belvedere and Leopold Museums, The Secessionist Building, plus in various other buildings around the city.

• 

  Be merry at Vienna’s Christmas Markets

  If you visit between mid-November and late December then you have the chance of visiting Vienna’s world famous Christmas Markets (Christkindlmarkt). There are several around the city, but the main one is spectacularly set in front of the Rathaus and features typical stands selling festive decorations, delicious seasonal foods and of course plenty of tasty punch and mulled wine (Glüwein).

• 

  Savour Schnitzel

  Wiener Schnitzel may not be originating in Austria (it is said that it comes from Lombardy, in Italy), but it is definitely the no 1 adopted dish of the city. And to be fair the Viennese have perfected the dish to an absolute high. Try the veal speciality at Figlmüller, one of the most traditional restaurants in the city.

• 

  Sample the Café Culture

  The Viennese have also another passion: coffee and cakes. And they have built temples in honour of this tradition. Try the amazing Café Central, with its stunning grand architecture, which saw famous (or infamous) customers during its history, from Adolph Hitler, Sigmund Freud and Vladimir Lenin. Or pop to Hotel Sacher, to try a slice of the famous chocolate and apricot jam cake.

• 

  Bathe in splendour

  Kaiserbrundl gay sauna originally open in 1889 as the Central Bath House and in its heyday attracted some important figures, including Ludwig Viktor, Emperor Franz Josef’s brother, who is said to have had a predilection for handsome young men. Saved from ruin this beautiful complex is a great place to relax and socialise, still featuring the original marble baths & pool, imposing frescoed vaults and gilded arabesque rooms.

Gallery

Planes, trains and automobiles...

Useful links

• Official Vienna Transport Website (Wiener Linien)

• ÖBB - Austrian Railways

• CAT - City Airport Train

• Vienna Airport Official Site

The Scene

• 48.2084923,16.37312685415674

  St Stephens Cathedral

• 48.2108257,16.356572796366468

  Rathaus

• 48.2058275,16.374443

  Kaiserbründl

  Sauna

• 48.18124479999999,16.3085816

  Schönbrunn Palace

• 48.2038016,16.3617874

  Kunsthistorische Museum

• 48.1963778,16.3515768

  Mariahilf neighbourhood

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