Vienna districts guide
Vienna (Austria) is divided into 23 districts — administrative areas of different sizes and with their own specific characteristics and charm. Vienna districts are both numbered and have a name, so it is easy to navigate. Their numbers are linked to postal codes, so if an address in Vienna has a postal code 1210, it is in 21st district (middle number from postal code 1210). Here is another example — 1010 is a postal code from first district — 1010.
Also, street names displayed on plates are numbered with district numbers, so if plate reads 4. Prinz Eugen-Straße, this means you are in the 4th district. This makes navigation through Vienna really easy.
From 23 districts, first nine are considered inner districts as they are located around city center. The remaining 14 districts (10–23) are considered outer districts as they are further away from the city center.
Here is the list and brief info about Vienna districts with their postcodes (zip codes):
District 1 — Innere Stadt — 1010
The main, central district located in the geographical center of Vienna. Home to Stephan Platz (Stephansplatz) and St. Stephen’s Cathedral (Stephansdom). This is the main tourist flocking district with many important landmarks and high-end shopping and dining areas. It is a part of the Old Town and has couple of pedestrian areas popular with tourists and Vienna resident alike. Innere Stadt is circled with Ringstraße, spacious boulevard following the route of former city walls.
The first district is a home to Kunsthistorisches (Art History) and Naturhistorisches (Natural History) museums, National Library and several other important museums. The district has many palace buildings, mostly from 19th and early 20th century: Palais Niederösterreich, Palais Dietrichstein, Stadtalais Liechtenstein, Palais Porcia, Palais Starhemberg, Palais Esterhazy, Hochhaus Herrengasse and main ne being The Hofburg.
District 2 — Leopoldstadt — 1020
Leopoldstadt is the district on the island between the Danube and the Donaukanal. It shares the island with 20nd district, Brigittenau. It is home of Praterstern, city’s busiest traffic node, and Prater Park with Viennese Giant Ferris Wheel. Second districts has several more landmarks and attractions such as: Augarten park with Palais Augarten and Porcelain Factory, Wiener Sängerknaben (Vienna Boys′ Choir, also in Palais Augarten), Carmelite Church (Karmeliterkirche), Karmelitermarkt, Produktenbörse (Corn Exchange) and Kirche St. Leopold.
Leopoldstadt has a strong Jewish heritage and also unfortunate history as Jewish people were gathered from here to be send to the concentration camps during the Holocausts. Today, Jewish presence in culture and commerce is revived and thriving in the second district.
The second district has very central position and it is well connected to the city centre, so it is very popular residential area as well, with much lower rent than 1st district.
District 3 — Landstraße — 1030
Landstraße is next to Innere Stadt (district 1), right on the right side of the Donaukanal. It includes Belvedere Palace and central train station of Vienna, Wien Mitte. Apart from Belvedere, there are few notable cultural institutions in this districts as well: Kunsthaus Wien, Hundertwasserhaus Wien, Akademietheater, Konzerthaus and Heeresgeschichtliches Museum.
There are also several palaces of historical importance: Schwarzenberg Palace, Palais Schwarzenberg, Palais Wittgenstein and Palais Rasumofsky. Third district also have several churches from different denominations and architectural styles: Gardekirche, Elisabethinenkirche, Rochuskirche Church, Kirche Maria Geburt and the Russian Orthodox Church.
From other landmarks, it is worth mentioning Schwarzenbergplatz Square with Hochquellbrunnen Fountain, and the Soviet War Memorial.
District 4 — Wieden — 1040
Wieden is a small district in south to the city center and includes Karlsplatz with famous Karlskirche and also the Vienna University of Technology. Notable attractions and landmark also include Wien Museum, Naschmarkt, Theklakirche, Paulanerkirche and Elisabethkirche.
This district is popular with tourist in the area of Karlsplatz and Naschmarkt.
District 5 — Margareten — 1050
Margareten and Wieden were one district until 1861. It is a small district, almost identical in size with Wieden. Famous for being a home to Austrian Society and Economy Museum, known globally for introduction of Vienna Method, data visualization method.
This district also has history in labor and workers movement all the way before WWII. It was greatly destroyed during WWII and rebuilding of it took some time. Today, the district has its charm and you can find very cheap rental and very near to the city center.
District 6 — Mariahilf — 1060
This is another of the smaller Vienna districts, part of the central city area. Popular with shopping and dining area along Mariahilfer Straße and also includes Haus des Meeres Aqua Terra Zoo, Vienna aquarium.
Academy of Fine Arts is located in this district, and this is a reason in somewhat bohemian feel in the area, since district is filled with small art galleries and art and artisan souvenir shops.
Theater an der Wien is also in Mariahilf district. Mozart’s Magic Flute was first performed there. Joseph Haydn, another famous classical composer, lived in Mariahilf area. He lived near the Kirche St. Aegyd, which is now affectionately called Haydnkirche.
Another notable church in the area is Mariahilfer Church, Baroque style church from 18th century.
Mariahilf is a district popular with tourist also because offers many streets for walking and wandering around and looking at the small shops or have coffee break in one of many cafes.
District 7 — Neubau — 1070
Neubau is another small district, but it is a host to the Museumsquartier, a large museum and gallery complex. Leopold Museum, MUMOK, Kunsthalle Wien, Architekturzentrum, ZOOM Kindermuseum and MQ POINT are just selected top cultural institution of about 60 located in the area, which makes it one of the biggest in Europe.
Many cafes, bars and restaurants in the area are making visit to Neubau enjoyable and you can always expect some street performance in and around Museumsquartier, especially in summer.
Other than Museumsquartier, the 7th district also is a home to Volkstheater, ‘people’s theatre’, built in 19th century, Hofmobiliendepot, museum of Imperial furniture and Stiftskaserne, former monastery turned into military base that had some dark history, especially during WWII.
As in the rest of central Vienna, there are several churches in the area: Altlerchenfelder Church, Lazaristenkirche Church and Ulrichskirche Church.
District 8 — Josefstadt — 1080
Josefstadt is the smallest one of the Vienna districts. It is situated adjacent to the Rathaus, and close to the Austrian Parliament and the University of Vienna. The district is mostly residential, but there are still number of landmarks to visit. There are several palaces in the area: Palais Schönborn, hosting Österreichische Volkskundemuseum, a Museum of folk art and culture; Palais Auersperg, Palais Trautson, Palais Damian and Palais Strozzi.
There is a district museum with works of Klimt; Theater in der Josefstadt and Vienna International Theatre are two established performing arts institutions. There are also several small cabaret and small theater scenes around the district.
There are three notable churches in the district: Piaristenkirche Church, Dreifaltigkeitskirche and Mechitaristenkirche.
District 9 — Alsergrund — 1090
Alsergrund is the last of the inner districts and it closes the circle around city center. It is the area of the General Hospital and Vienna Medical University district, and also Sigmund Freud’s Museum.
From other attractions in this district, we can mention: Votivkirche Church, Palais Liechtenstein (owned by royal family of Liechtenstein) and Roßauer Kaserne, large building which hosted military base in the past.
District 10 — Favoriten — 1100
Favoriten is one of the larger districts with largest population so far. It is located in the southern part of Vienna. On its northern border, there is main train station, Wien Hauptbahnhof, and Vienna’s thermal spa in its southern part.
From notable landmarks in this district we can mention following: Spinnerin am Kreuz, a rare Gothic shrine, depicting several scenes from the Bible; churches — Oberlaa, Laarberg and Salvatorkirche; Starhemberg Kaserne, army base built at the beginning of the 20th century, and 19th century water tower, construction of a historical importance.
District 11 — Simmering — 1110
Simmering is a fairly large district, located next to Favoriten and on the right side of the Donaukanal. It is one of the oldest districts of Vienna, with the written records from the early 11th century.
It hosts some quite unique landmarks, such as: Gasometer City, former gas tanks converted into an apartment and office complex and Wiener Zentralfriedhof, Vienna Central Cemetery with around three million people burred there.
From other attractions in the district it’s worth mentioning Altsimmeringer Pfarrkirche, parish church from 18th century and two parks — Herderpark and Hyblerpark.
District 12 — Meidling — 1120
Meidling is a small district on the southern bank of the Wien river. Current Chancellor of Austria Sebastian Kurz was raised there and has private residence is Meidling.
There are few attractions in this district: Schloss Hetzendorf and Schloss Altmannsdorf, both used as educational institutions; Südwestfriedhof, the second largest cemetery in Vienna and Haydnpark, among others, smaller public parks.
District 13 — Heitzing — 1130
Hietzing is on the southern bank of the Wien river, and on the west of Vienna city area. It includes Schönbrunn Palace as one of the top attractions in Vienna. But, Schönbrunn Palace is not the only attraction in this, arguably, greenest district of Vienna (after all, the entire area was hunting grounds for Habsburgs). Lainzer Tiergarten is large nature reserve where imperial family was doing exactly that — hunting. And also, relaxing, as there is a villa there — Hermesvilla, frequented by Emperor Franz Joseph I and his wife, Empress Elisabeth (popular ‘Sisi’).
Heitzing was always area populated with aristocracy in past times, and now with their descendants or wealthy people in general. This is weirdly noticeable in local cemetery, Friedhof Hietzing, where expansive tombs are built for deceased wealthy citizens of the district, and not with much artistic taste.
Gustav Klimt is also buried there and this is a reason enough to visit this cemetery. Also, there is a Klimt Villa in Heitzing, where the artist lived and worked until his death in 1918.
District 14 — Penzing — 1140
Penzing was one district with Heitzing until they were divided into two districts in 1938. Located on the northern bank of the Wien river, the district is famous for Otto Wagner’s Church — Kirche am Steinhof. The church is set in the center of the compound of former psychiatric hospital, one of the largest in Europe at the time.
Otto Wagner also designed two villas in Penzing, aptly named Otto Wagner Villa I and Otto Wagner Villa II. They were, of course built in the Art Nouveau style.
From other notable attractions, we recommend Technisches Museum (Technical Museum) and birth place of Klimt in Baumgarten.
This district is also quite green almost half the territory is with parks and gardens.
District 15 — Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus — 1150
Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus is on the northern bank of the Wien river and it is a small district surrounded by six other Vienna district form the area. It is a district with highest percentage of foreign-born population in Vienna. One of the main train station, Westbahnhof, is located here.
From notable attractions in this district we can mention Maria vom Siege church and Stadthalle, large concert venue.
District 16 — Ottakring — 1160
Formerly a village of Ottakring, this western district is now a thriving neighborhood famous for its brewery and large Balkan immigration, especially from former Yugoslavia. The district lived through the population and construction boom in 1920s, during ‘Red Vienna’ period.
Today, its Brunnenmarkt is a fair competition to famous Naschmarkt, and there are several areas with distinguished charm throughout the district. This is not a touristy area so attractions are few, but these are landmarks to visit: Schloss Wilhelminenberg (now a hotel, but you can go there for a coffee, or better, a mélange), Wallfahrtskirche zur Heiligen Theresia vom Kinde Jesu, a pilgrimage church whose name is not easy to pronounce (or remember), Heuriger 10er Marie, a classic tavern to have a nice break and Kuffner Sternwarte, the observatory, one of the three in Vienna.
District 17 — Hernals — 1170
Hernals is the district stretching towards northwestern outskirts of Vienna. This is also not touristy area and there are not many interesting things to find there. Locally famous churches to visit there are Kalvarienbergkirche, the Sühnekirche, and the Marienpfarre. There is also a palace with a park, Schloss Neuwaldegg, worth visiting.
District 18 — Währing — 1180
Währing is on the northwestern of Vienna and includes the Türkenschanzpark and University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences. There are several notable buildings/castles in this district, such as Schloß Pötzleinsdorf.
This is also mostly residential district with very few attractions of interest to tourists.
District 19 — Döbling — 1190
Döbling is northern district and it is one of the larger ones. It is famous for being a residence of Beethoven and it hosts Japanese Garden.
Karl-Marx-Hof, large apartment complex dating back from 1920, period of ‘Red Vienna” is also in this district.
What makes this district popular is its location on the outskirts of Wienerwald, Vienna Woods, where many people go for outdoor activities.
District 20 — Brigittenau — 1200
Brigittenau was one district with Leopoldstadt, until they were made two districts in 1900. Named after Brigitta Chapel, built in 17 thcentury. Other churches in this district include Kirche zum Göttlichen Erlöser and the St. Johann Kapistran-Church.
District 21 — Floridsdorf — 1210
Floridsdorf is large district located on the left bank of the Danube and in the north of Vienna and includes combination of industrial and residential areas. This can be considered suburban district in general terms. There are very few attractions or landmark to see here, such as Donaufeld church or Mautner Schlössl with districy museum.
District 22 — Donaustadt — 1220
Donaustadt is also on the left bank of the Danube and is the largest district of Vienna, occupying almost one quarter of city’s area. It is a host of the Vienna International Centre, large campus and building complex of the United Nations Office in Vienna and several agencies and also Vienna’s largest conference center.
Alte Donau (Old Danube) is a popular recreation area, together with small national parks and several public parks throughout the district.
District 23 — Liesing — 1230
Liesing is the southernmost district, which is also one the least populated Vienna districts. It includes the Wotruba Church, an unique example of Brutalism in architecture. There are also castles/palaces: Schloss Liesing, Schloss Rodaun and Schloss Alterlaa, villa Hofmannsthal-Schlössl and large park of Alt-Erlaa. Other than that, Liesing is mostly combination of residential and commercial buildings.
Conclusion
This is just a brief description of each of Vienna districts. We hope this will be useful starting point in exploration of the city. We will be writing in more details as we add articles about attractions and landmarks around Vienna. Safe travels and see you soon!
Originally published at https://allaboutvienna.com on June 30, 2020.
