As you look at the historic brick kiln in the Augarten porcelain museum, the sweet tones of the piano may not be the first thing that comes to mind. Yet this building once hosted the likes of Mozart and Beethoven.
- Restored tract whose history dates back to the 17th century
- Venue for Morgenkonzerte (morning concerts) held in the late 18th and early 19th centuries
- Now home to the Augarten porcelain manufactory
- Book a concert experience* for Vienna
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The history
(Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert played here: quite a classical lineup)
The word Auen means wetland meadows in German, and anything prefixed by Au- implies an association with that landscape.
Today’s Augarten Park is all sculpted trees and cut grass, but the area once served as a hunting reserve for the likes of Emperor Matthias back in the early 17th century. One of Matthias’s successors (Ferdinand III) built a Lustschloss at the location.
A Lustschloss was a kind of palatial recreational retreat, though the aristocratic fun ended rather suddenly with the arrival of Ottoman troops. They weren’t there so much to play ball as to throw them out of cannons; the invaders destroyed the palace in 1683.
Ferdinand’s Lustschloss never rose from the ashes of war, but Emperor Joseph I (re)built one tract, a long hall or Saal, around 1705.
This Saal eventually found use as a popular event location, particularly in the late 18th century. Its greatest fame came through the so-called morning concerts (German: Morgenkonzerte).
At the time, the absence of dedicated concert halls like today’s Musikverein or Konzerthaus meant impresarios made use of any available space, spreading music throughout the city.
Mozart performed his Piano Concerto No. 10 in the Saal on May 26, 1782, which also featured a rendition of his Paris Symphony. Nor was he the last famous composer to wave a baton or instrument in earnest at this location.
Beethoven premiered his Violin Sonata No. 9 (the Kreutzer Sonata) at a Morgenkonzert there in 1803, and Schubert took his song The Nightingale to the Saal in 1824.
A plaque on an outside wall commemorates the former presence of these musical greats.
Today, the famous Wiener Porzellanmanufaktur Augarten (the makers of Augarten porcelain) occupy the premises.
The Saal houses, for example, an Augarten store, the Porcelain Museum, and the Café Restaurant Sperling: the latter continues a long-standing gastronomic tradition for the location.
Back in 1834, for example, the Wiener Theaterzeitung newspaper praised the fixed menu available in the Augarten Saal. The writer noted the “fine company” to be found there and the “pleasant music” that accompanied the food.
Music has not completely disappeared from the area, though. A short wander southeast takes you to the Augartenpalais home of the Vienna Boys Choir and the MuTh concert hall where they often perform.
How to get to the Augarten Saal
See the article on the Porcelain Museum for directions.
Address: Obere Augartenstraße 1, 1020 Vienna