Otto Wagner Pavilions

Otto Wagner designed the whole Stadtbahn, Vienna's city railway, in the 1890s - stations, bridges, retaining walls and railings across the network - and the two pavilions at Karlsplatz are the best known of what survives: marble-clad steel frames with green-painted ironwork, gilded sunflower ornament and the station name in Wagner's own lettering, built in 1899. When the line was converted to U-Bahn in the 1970s the alignment shifted and the pavilions stood in the way; they were dismantled, the ground was excavated for the new station, and they were rebuilt above it at a slightly higher level after a public campaign. One is now a small museum on Wagner, the other a café. Other Wagner stations survive on the U4 and U6 lines, along with the Kirche am Steinhof and the Postal Savings Bank.

What you actually see

• Two 1899 pavilions - marble panels on steel with gilded sunflower ornament.
• Wagner's lettering - the station name in his own designed type.
• A rebuilt pair - dismantled for the U-Bahn works and re-erected higher up.
• A museum and a café - the two current uses of the buildings.

When to go

All year; the museum pavilion is seasonal. Half an hour.

Honest expectations

They are small and take fifteen minutes. The museum pavilion opens seasonally and keeps short hours. Karlsplatz around them is a busy transport interchange, not a quiet square.

Nearby

The Karlskirche, the Secession and the Naschmarkt are all a short walk.