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 to look for

• 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.

Good to know

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.