Going for gold: in search of Gustav Klimt

I’m staying at Palais Hansen Kempinski, a fusion of four historic buildings which opened as a hotel just ten years ago. The first thing I clock is the width of the corridors, wide enough for ladies in ballgowns to pass each other I suspect (in normal times more than 400 balls are hosted in the city each year).

But then everything in Vienna is on the grandest scale, including my suite with its high ceilings, large windows and luxurious Art Deco feel. Perhaps later I’ll sit at the curved mahogany desk to pen a letter or soak in my vast bathtub while gazing at the swirling Jugendstil (the Viennese counterpart of Art Nouveau) designs which are replicated on the bathroom doors.

The public areas are swish too, with a vast salon where waiters scurry ferrying afternoon tea to well-heeled ladies, while in the lobby, I discover a door to Krigler, a bijou perfumery established in 1904, where I’m invited to try their new perfume, Monarchie 218. I head out to explore smelling like Viennese royalty.

Full of pomp and exquisite elegance, the city’s Baroque architecture dates from the days when Vienna was at the centre of a mighty empire. I keep my guidebook shut to start as I wander through the city’s Unesco heritage centre, turning my gaze upwards so not to miss any of the grandiose facades, and am soon rewarded as I stumble upon the White Angel Apothecary, guarded by two mosaic angels.

In a city that groans with impressive buildings such as the vast Hofburg (the seat of Austrian power since the 13th century), and the Neo-Classical Staatsoper (state opera), the delicate, decorative touches of the avant-garde Jugendstil movement led by Klimt are a breath of fresh air.

I head to the Leopold Museum for a lesson in Jugendstil, a journey that encompasses painting, arts and crafts, and furniture, from the movement’s beginnings in the early 20th century. In addition to Klimt, it’s pieces by other artists, including glass designed by Koloman Moser, that also turn my head.

Eating cake is a time-honoured tradition in Vienna, and with so many historic cafes to explore, no excuse is needed for sampling several in one day. Sacher Hotel, where the rich and well-to-do once conducted their extramarital affairs, is where Sacher Torte — that rich chocolate sponge sandwiched with a tart apricot jam — was dreamed up in 1832.

I tuck into a slice in Eck, the hotel’s stylish café, gathering the energy to scale the towers of the Stephansdom cathedral, only to discover a lift to transport me to the top for a bird’s eye view of the famous 230,000 glazed tile roof depicting Vienna and Austria’s coats of arms.

The geometric design in yellow, green, black, and blue was created in 1950 after a fire devastated the original and provides a striking contrast to the cathedral’s dark gothic, candle-lit, interior.

Back on the ground, I hope to catch a glimpse of Vienna’s famous white Lipizzaner horses, which perform at the Spanish Riding School founded in 1572. I’ve had a tip-off that you can peer into their impossibly posh stables from Augustinerstrasse, where I find them draped in warm blankets enjoying a lunch of fine golden hay.

Opposite here is the Prunksaal (State Hall), which houses Europe’s largest Baroque library. The collection of more the 200,000 books is displayed on ornate walnut bookcases beneath a lavishly frescoed domed ceiling. Look for the secret doors cleverly hidden within the shelves that lead to more book-filled chambers, and the enormous globes made by notable 17th century cartographers.

Then I’m back on the Klimt Trail, tracking him down between the Rubens and the Picassos at the Albertina, where it’s a collection of his drawings that are the highlight.

The heart of Vienna’s Jewish Quarter is Judenplatz, known affectionately as Matzo Island and surrounded by attractive shops and restaurants, including Alef Alef, famous for its kosher wiener schnitzel. The elegant Biedermeier-style Stadttempel is the only synagogue in Vienna to have survived the Holocaust and was home to the original Jewish Museum, which has since moved to two nearby locations.

Of these, in the 17th century Misrachi-Haus, you’ll find a monument to the Austrian Holocaust victims by Rachel Whiteread, along with an exhibition on the pogrom of 1421. At the second site — Museum Dorotheergasse — a new exhibition charting the history of the Rothschilds in Vienna runs until the beginning of June, starting from the arrival of Salomon von Rothschild in the early 19th century.

You can step inside the former home of another of Vienna’s famous Jewish residents, Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, who lived here for more than 50 years. His home and practice rooms at Berggasse 19, where modern concepts such as the ego and subconscious evolved, are now a museum.

Don’t go expecting a period recreation as the house is left quite spartan, although do look for his leather doctor’s bag and original mirror that hung in his consulting room. The lack of furniture is a deliberate reminder of all that Jewish families lost during the war. Instead of the carpet that hung on the wall behind Freud’s famous couch (both now housed in the Freud Museum in London), you’ll find the holes left by the nails Freud used to secure it to the wall.

While hints are given from photographs, imagination is key. The recently opened special exhibition, Organized Escape: Survival in Exile, charts the fate of Freud and his practising Jewish contemporaries who were forced to flee Vienna.

I return to my Klimt-hunting once again, venturing a little out of the historic centre to the Wiener Secession; built by the Jugendstil artists as a showcase for the movement, it’s emblazoned with the motto, “To every age its art, to art its freedom.”

While you can’t miss its dazzling golden dome of gilded laurel leaves, be sure to walk around the entire exterior to view Moser’s whimsical owl reliefs. Inside, you’ll discover Klimt’s 110-foot-long Beethoven Frieze, which you’re invited to explore while listening to Beethoven’s ninth symphony, the music that inspired the work.

From here, it’s a short walk through the Naschmarkt, Vienna’s buzziest market, to the Wagner Apartments, or Linke Wienzeile. Designed by architect Otto Wagner in 1899, another of the movement’s leading proponents, the dazzling exterior is painted with pink and blue floral motifs and leafy green vines.

But I save the best until last. Of all Jugendstil art, The Kiss is easily the most famous work, created during what is known as Klimt’s Golden Period. Housed in The Belvedere, I take a breath before entering the gallery hall to view it, finally laying eyes on the original more than three decades after I bought that first poster to hang on my bedsit wall.

There’s a saying in Austria, “Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old,” and as I gaze at this large canvas, more like a tapestry than an oil painting, depicting two lovers entwined, I am 20 once more.

Getting There

Flights to Vienna from Stansted and Liverpool cost from £25 with Ryanair

Superior Double rooms at Palais Hansen Kempinski cost from around £290.

Visit wien.info for more information

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