This small collection of articles highlights the Vienna locations or themes featured in well-known films, TV shows, or songs. Trace the footsteps of the stars of The Third Man, Before Sunrise, Jack Ryan, Vienna Blood and more…
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Follow the links for more details, photos, and location maps…
TV shows
Vienna Blood
(The Mölker Steig, featured in Vienna Blood – Episode 1)
The Vienna Blood period detective series used a large number of locations in Vienna. I’ve tracked down almost all the outdoor ones and some of the indoor ones too from Seasons 1, 2 and 3.
Many of the city’s historical sites make star appearances, including the Natural History Museum, the main cemetery, the Burggarten and Stadtpark parks, Belvedere, Café Sperl, the Hotel Imperial, the Hofburg, Schönbrunn Palace, and the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum.
Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan
(Jack Ryan walked down this road)
Vienna makes a small but significant appearance in Episode 3 of Season 3 of the Amazon series around CIA officer Jack Ryan. We get a good look at one or two streets in the old town, for example, and pop into the city’s main railway station.
Two notable sights that serve as exterior locations are the Staatsoper and Stephansdom cathedral.
The Recruit
(Hendricks jumps into the water from this bridge)
Another CIA man makes a trip to Vienna. Owen Hendricks enjoys a drive around the Ringstrassen and a quick dip into the Donaukanal part of the Danube.
Not quite the holiday it sounds, given that both of those experiences involved evading pursuers. Other locations for The Recruit include Cafè Korb and Hotel Royal.
Movies
The Third Man
(Harry Lime lived here)
Vienna famously provided the backdrop for one of the world’s greatest films. Take a trip around the The Third Man locations with photos and descriptions of all the important scenes.
The action takes us through various parts of a rubble-filled Vienna immediately after WWII. Despite the subsequent rebuilding, redevelopment, and renovations, many sites remain instantly recognisable today. Cough…the ferris wheel…cough.
(The Third Man is not the only movie to feature that famous Riesenrad.)
Before Sunrise
(The LP store visited by Céline and Jesse)
Away from gangsters, spies, and wars for a moment and toward a little romance. Before Sunrise with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy probably features more of Vienna than all the other films put together.
The couple spend almost the entire movie wandering the streets. The locations feature a mix of the well-known (like the Kunsthistorisches and Albertina museums), the less well-known (like the Cemetery of the Nameless and the Biedermeier streets of Spittelberg) and the completely unknown (canal steps and mundane urban roads).
Sachertorte
(The elegant café where much of the film takes place)
Staying on the topic of romance, the Sachertorte movie sees Karl move to Vienna in search of a lost love. Once there, he consumes an inordinate amount of the titular cake in Café Sacher, for example.
Other Sachertorte locations in Vienna include a possible homage or two to Before Sunrise and take us to the main university, the Naschmarkt, the State Opera House, the Donaukanal, the Stadtpark, and elsewhere.
The Living Daylights
(A plane emerges from one of the Viennese gasometers)
Back to spies: Vienna locations feature in the 15th Bond film, The Living Daylights. The city plays both itself and the Slovakian capital, Bratislava.
The Riesenrad makes an appearance, as does the surrounding Prater entertainment park. Bond also enjoys a carriage ride past some of the tourist sites, including Schönbrunn Palace.
Mission Impossible 5
(The State Opera House)
And more spies…discover which Viennese locations featured in Mission Impossible 5 with Tom Cruise.
A lot of the early action uses the famous Staatsoper as a setting (both inside and outside). Such was its prominence in the film that the movie’s world premiere took place in the same building.
Corsage
(Empress Elizabeth gets dropped off here)
A movie covering several months in the life of an Austrian empress seems like it should feature Vienna. While Corsage used locations across Europe, they did indeed film several outdoor scenes here.
Both imperial palace complexes (Hofburg and Schönbrunn) make an appearance, for example.
Music
Ultravox
(Midge Ure sings in front of this)
One of those all-time favourites that even bears the city name in its title: Vienna by Ultravox. The official video includes shots of such locations as the cathedral, main cemetery, and the Michaelerplatz entrance to the Hofburg palace complex.
Leonard Cohen
And finally, Vienna gets a few mentions in Leonard Cohen’s Take This Waltz, which he based on the poem Little Viennese Waltz by Federico Garcia Lorca.
Watch this space, as I add more articles through time…