Vienna: Haydn at every Step

Joseph Haydn turned down an attractive offer in London to return to his musical roots in Vienna. Numerous places across Vienna testify to the great composer’s legacy.

Haydn House
In 1793 Haydn bought this former suburb house in Haydngasse 19, near today’s famous Mariahilferstraße, and had it converted and another storey added. This house, which served as his home for 12 years, was where Haydn composed the majority of his late works, among them the grandiose oratorios The Creation and The Four Seasons. The museum inside Haydn House is a must for all Haydn fans!
www.wienmuseum.at

St. Stephen’s Cathedral
In 1739 the Kapellmeister of St. Stephen’s Cathedral visited Hainburg’s parish priest in search of talented choir boys. One of the auditioning boys was young Haydn and the Kapellmeister immediately recognized the boy’s outstanding musical talent and recruited the eight-year old Joseph for the St. Stephen’s Cathedral Choir in Vienna. In 1760 Haydn married Maria Anna Keller in St. Stephen’s Cathedral. It was an unhappy marriage.
www.stephanskirche.at

Mozart House Vienna
The child prodigy and music genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart called Haydn his fatherly friend. On 2nd February 1785 the two composers met in Domgasse where Mozart lived from 1784 to 1787. With four rooms, two cabinets and one kitchen Mozart lived like a prince. In those years Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote some of his quartets which he dedicated to Joseph Haydn. Three of them premiered with Haydn on the violin and W. A. Mozart on the viola.
www.mozarthausvienna.at

Michaelerhaus and Michaelerkirche
Between 1750 and 1755 Haydn lived at Michaelerhaus where he was both employee and student of the famous Kapellmeister Nicola Porpora. This is also where he met the court poet Pietro Metastasio. Despite all the privations he experienced, Haydn said of those years: “I worked on a piano that was eaten up by worms, yet I did not envy any king for his fortune”. In 1749, a 17-year old Joseph Haydn played the organ in Michaelerkirche next door . A memorial plaque left of Michaelertor reminds of the old Burgtheater where Haydn celebrated a great triumph with his Imperial Anthem (Gott erhalte).
www.michaelerkirche.at

Anker Clock at Hoher Markt
The splendid Anker Clock – designed by the Art Nouveau painter Franz Matsch and built between 1911 and 1917 – links the two parts of the Anker building, boasting a total span of ten meters. In the course of 12 hours, 12 historical figures move across the face of the clock, among them Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Empress Maria Theresa and Prince Eugen of Savoy. Joseph Haydn is the last of them. Every day at noon all figures appear at the same time, accompanied by music. In the old days it was the Imperial Anthem, which, for political reasons, was replaced by another Haydn composition after the downfall of the k. & k. monarchy.

Ankeruhr
Hoher Markt 10-11
1010 Wien

Haydn Memorial in Mariahilfer Straße
This memorial is located on Vienna’s liveliest shopping street and was funded through a donation campaign organized by Haydn admirers. The memorial was unveiled in 1887, long after Haydn’s death in 1809. The marble statue is the work of the South Tirolean sculptor Heinrich Natter, and the pedestal was designed by the Viennese architect Otto Hieser.
1060 Wien, Mariahilfer Straße 55

Schloss Schönbrunn
The Austrian emperor’s former summer residence is one of Europe’s most beautiful baroque palaces. In 1745 the choir of St. Stephan performed at this palace. The choir boy Joseph Haydn was illegally climbing around the scaffolding and promptly got a flogging for this unseemly behavior. Many years later, in 1777, Haydn once more performed at Schloss Schönbrunn, this time as Kapellmeister under Count Esterházy.
www.schoenbrunn.at

Esterházy Keller
This old wine cellar, which dates from 1683, inspired Haydn, who was a regular patron, to several of his compositions. Today the historic rooms serve a unique combination of typical Viennese cooking, wine and historic exhibitions.

Esterhazykeller
Haarhof 1, 1010 Wien
Tel: (0043) 1 533 34 82
Mail: keller@esterhazykeller.at

Maria Treu Baroque Basilica
Commissioned by the Piarists, the Haydn’s Missa in Tempore Belli (Mass in Time of War, sometimes also referred to as Kettledrum Mass) was first performed in this church on 26th December 1796. Another musician who chose Maria Treu Basilica to premiere his works was Anton Bruckner. Bruckner also took two exams on the basilica’s organ which dates from 1858 and is still used today.