Vienna - the metropolis along the Danube
- is
known worldwide for famous tourist attractions
like St. Stephen's Cathedral and its Giant Ferris
Wheel, for exquisite delights like Sacher Torte
and Melange, as well as for the Fine Arts, great
museums and, of course, classical music.
The Vienna of the 21st century, however, offers
much more. The city has advanced to the cutting
edge of contemporary creativity and innovative
design. Events like Blickfangand the Viennafair
(,p.17) present the opportunity to experience
even more of the creative force of this capital city.
In addition to all this
Vienna has a sizeable gay
and lesbian scene(,p. 22), from queer café to
cocktail bar, from lesbian restaurant to leather
place, from bathhouse to dance club, it is all
here. And all that on top of the gay and lesbian
event highlights(,p.42) like the Life Ball, the
Rainbow Parade, Vienna in Black, and the
Rainbow Ball.
Apart from the gay & lesbian scene, Vienna is
queerer than meets the eye. For centuries homosexuals have left their distinctive marks in
Austrian arts and politics, perhaps subtle, yet
noticeable. Still many a visitor today is suddenly
confronted with the whole truth about that certain historic figure(,p. 6) - "What, him too!?"
So don't be surprised
to find that - apart from
the gay and lesbian scene - Vienna holds a colorful range of cultural(,p. 12) and culinary
(,p.28) pleasures, of exquisite shops(,p.20)
and curious delights waiting to be discovered.
The gay and lesbian community is influenced
by a large number of national organizations
headquartered in Vienna which are primarily
active in political and social contexts. Human
rights organizations, the gay and lesbian subgroups of political parties belong as much to the
community as sports clubs and student
organizations.
Vienna State Opera
1., Opernring 2
(+43-1) 513 15 13
www.wiener-staatsoper.at
