Freyung, Vienna

In the middle of the Freying square is the Austria Fountain which is a work of Ludwig Schwantaler. It was cast by Ferdinand Miller in the Munich bronze foundry and unveiled on Freyung in 1846. Its allegorical bronze figures represent Austria and the main rivers of the monarchy as it then existed, the Po, Elbe, Weischel and Danube. There may be some truth in the Viennese chronicles which state that Alma von Goethe, the granddaughter of the poet, was the model for the figure of Austria at the age of 17, shortly before her death. After the bronze figure was completed, Schwanthaler is said to have had it filled with cigarettes in Munich to smuggle them into Vienna. The figure was set in place so quickly on arrival, however, that he never had the chance to "empty" Austria and the cigarettes may still be there to this day.

The palace with its beautiful facade and magnificent staircase was built between 1713 and 1726 to a design by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt. It was commissioned by Count Daun, the father of the legendary commander in the seven year war against Friedrich II of Prussia.The Palais Ferstel, which Heinrich Ferstel, architect of the Votivkirche and the University, built in 1856-60 for the National Bank, has a distinct Italianate air. Until 1877 the Stock Exchange was housed here. For years the building was neglected but has been restored exactly as it was in the elaborate "Ringstrasse" style as an exclusive venue for conferences and banquets. A glass-roofed shopping arcade containing the fountain of the Danube sprites by Anton Fernkorn, leads to the Herrengasse.

The former Mollard-Clary palace in Vienna and its Roccoco apartments are the setting for the Museum of the State of Lower Austria.On the second floor will be found the Department of Cultural History, the most important department of the museum. Here a series of pictures lead the visitor back into the past, from Kokoschka via Gauermann, Waldmüller, Kupelweiser, Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Röttmayr, Maulbertsch, Altomonte and Kremser-Schmidt right back to 15th and 16th C. altar pieces and wood carvings (e.g., the "Flachau Madonna" of 1500). There is also detailed information on the settlement, landscape, flora and fauna, life and customs of Lower Austria.Established in 1923 in the former Baroque Palace of Mollard-Cley at Herrengasse 9, the Museum of the State of Lower Austria portrays the nature, art and cultural history of the region.ATTRACTION IS CLOSED.