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5 places to celebrate Mother’s Day in Vienna

This Sunday, Austria will join countries across the world in celebrating Mother’s Day. Many Austrians mark the day by going on family outings, so if you find yourself in the Austrian capital, here are five great spots to visit to join in on the tradition.

Published: 10 May 2023 13:27 CEST
Updated: 13 May 2023 14:14 CEST
5 places to celebrate Mother's Day in Vienna
A nice afternoon by the Viennese vineyards. (Photo by Arno Senoner on Unsplash)

Vienna, a city of timeless beauty and filled with culture, offers a host of captivating destinations to celebrate Mother’s Day in a memorable way. With its historical landmarks, serene parks, and vibrant markets, this Austrian capital provides a delightful backdrop for the date.

Whether you’re a local seeking new experiences or a visitor eager to create lasting memories, here are five remarkable places in Vienna that will make this Mother’s Day celebration truly exceptional.

Riverside meal at Motto am Fluss

Going out for a family brunch or dinner is a classic way to celebrate Mother’s Day. At Motto am Fluss, you can take your pick. This elegant two-story establishment overlooking the Danube Canal features a restaurant for dinner on the first floor and a café for brunch on the enclosed upper deck above, which opens out onto a sun terrace. Both menus boast a variety of dishes, so you’ll be sure to have a delicious Mother’s Day meal. 

Vienna Culinary Festival at Stadtpark

In a case of fortuitous timing, the Wiener Genuss-Festival at the gorgeous Stadtpark takes place this weekend, making for a perfect Mother’s Day treat.100 booths featuring delicacies from across Austria will have samples on offer. And with the stations manned by the culinary creators themselves, you can also get insight into the process that lies behind their tasty bites. 

Donau Park and Danube Tower

An activity-filled Mother’s Day awaits at Donau Park. You can explore the park’s lush greens and colourful gardens via its various walking paths or on board the mini-train that traverses the grounds. The area is great for sports as well, as it has tennis courts, football pitches, and even a minigolf course.

The park is also home to the famous Danube Tower, Austria’s tallest structure. The 150-meter-high viewing platform, as well as the rotating café and restaurant located just above, provide panoramic views across the entire city. 

Picnic at Cobenzl Vineyards

If you’re looking for a more secluded outdoor experience, check out the Cobenzl vineyards, located northwest of the city centre. You can order a picnic box from the Genuss am Cobenzl restaurant online and enjoy it in their beautiful vineyard. Alternatively, you can plan a DIY picnic at the nearby Bellevuewiese. Bring your own supplies and some homemade goodies and enjoy the view from this luscious meadow that looks out over the city.

Tchaikovsky at Konzerthaus

Finally, you can’t go wrong with a trip to the famous Wiener Konzerthaus to get a taste of Vienna’s world-renowned classical music scene. At 15:00 on Sunday, the Vienna Symphony will perform Tschaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. Billed as a family concert, this promises to be an excellent Mother’s Day outing for the musically inclined.

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VIENNA

Could be wurst: Vienna sausage stands push for UN recognition

From top bankers and politicians to students and factory workers, Vienna's popular sausage stands heaving with bratwurst and meaty delicacies are a longstanding cultural legacy they hope to have recognised by UNESCO.

Published: 23 June 2024 08:31 CEST
Could be wurst: Vienna sausage stands push for UN recognition

The owners of 15 stands in the Austrian capital have formed a lobbying group and applied last week to have the “Vienna sausage stand culture” inscribed as intangible cultural heritage by the UN agency.

“We want to create a kind of quality seal for Vienna sausage stands,” said 36-year-old Patrick Tondl, one of the association’s founders whose family owns Leo’s Wuerstelstand — Vienna’s oldest operating sausage stand.

“At the sausage stand, everyone is the same… No matter if you’re a top banker who earns hundreds of thousands of euros or if you have to scrape together the last euros to buy a sausage… You meet here, you can talk to everyone,” he adds.

High inflation driving consumers looking for affordable meals, plus a new wave of vendors with updated flavours, have helped keep the stands busy.

Tondl’s great-grandfather started their business in the late 1920s, pulling a cart behind him and selling sausages at night.

The family’s customers have included former chancellor Bruno Kreisky, recalls Vera Tondl, 67, who runs the shop together with her son Patrick.

Leo’s is one of about 180 sausage stands in Vienna today, out of a total of about 300 food stands, selling fast food at fixed locations and open until the early hours, according to the city’s economic chamber.

Whereas the number of stands has remained similar over the last decade, more than a third have changed from selling sausages to kebabs, pizza and noodles, a spokesman for the chamber told AFP.

‘Momentum’

But sausage stands have seen a “mini boom” in customer numbers recently, according to Patrick Tondl.

Many have been drawn back to the stands by high inflation, where a meal can be had for less than 10 euros ($11) with lower overheads than restaurants.

New stand operators have also brought a “bit of momentum”, said Tondl, bringing the likes of organic vegetarian sausages with kimchi.

Tourists are already drawn in droves.

“When you come to Austria, it’s what you want to try,” 28-year-old Australian tourist Sam Bowden told AFP.

The cultural legacy of Vienna’s sausages is far-reaching, including the use of the term “wiener” for sausages in the United States, which is believed to have derived from the German name for Vienna, Wien.

However Sebastian Hackenschmidt, who has published a photo book on the stands, said the legacy of the “Vienna phenomena” is more complex.

He says that for many in multicultural Vienna, the sausage stands hold little appeal — equally for the growing number of vegetarians — and their universal appeal is something of a “myth”.

“Vienna is a city in great flux… With the influx of people, cultural customs are also changing,” Hackenschmidt told AFP.

Some 40 percent of Vienna’s two million inhabitants were born outside the country, where the anti-immigrant far-right looks set to top September national polls for the first time.

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