The districts (Bezirke) of Vienna - an overview


  1. Innere Stadt   7. Neubau 13. Hietzing 19. Döbling
  2. Leopoldstadt   8. Josefstadt 14. Penzing 20. Brigittenau
  3. Landstraße   9. Alsergrund 15. Fünfhaus 21. Floridsdorf
  4. Wieden 10. Favoriten 16. Ottakring 22. Donaustadt
  5. Margareten 11. Simmering 17. Hernals 23. Liesing
  6. Mariahilf 12. Meidling 18. Währing  

Until the middle of the 19th century the City of Vienna consisted only of what today is the first district, which was surrounded by citywalls. All around the city there were suburbs, and still farther away small villages - which partly can be seen, when looking at their names. Only when Emperor Francis Joseph decided to tear down the walls, the suburbs became part of Vienna and the villages also were merged into districts. As an example, the 21st district consists of the old village of "Floridsdorf", but also of Jedlesee, Strebersdorf and Stammersdorf.
Today a Viennese will use the the numeric indication of the districs ("I live in the Third"), as well as the old names. (The soccer-team Rapid still has its homeground in Hütteldorf - not in Penzing, even if Hütteldorf is part of the 14th.)
Surrounding the first district there is the Ringstraße, the borderline to the districts 3 through 9. Outside these districts there is the "Gürtel", another city-ring, dividing the inner districts from the outer ones. Both streets are important to traffic, motorists as well as public transport. Once you have learned the organisation of the districts, it will become really easy to find your way in Vienna, using Ringstraße and Gürtel as means of orientation, because every address is given with the corresponding number in front.


© Bernhard Kauntz, Vienna 2005



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30.8.2005 by webmaster@werbeka.com