As part of From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2016, host Julie Andrews visits the Lusthaus cafe in Vienna’s Prater park and explains the history of one of Vienna’s most popular attractions.
The Prater grounds were once the hunting grounds of the Habsburg royalty before Emperor Joseph II opened it to the public in 1766. Today the Prater is also home to an amusement park that includes the famous Ferris Wheel built in 1897.
THE HABSBURGS HAD A PASSION FOR HUNTING.
AN EXCLUSIVE PRIVILEGE OF THE NOBILITY, IT IS THE MAIN REASON WHY SO MUCH GREEN SPACE HAS BEEN PRESERVED AROUND THE CAPITAL TODAY, FROM THE VIENNA WOODS TO THE DANUBE WETLANDS.
ONE OF THEIR MOST IMPORTANT GAME RESERVES WAS KNOWN AS THE PRATER.
250 YEARS AGO, MARIA THERESA'S SON, EMPEROR JOSEPH II, OPENED THE PRATER TO THE PUBLIC AND BUILT THE LUSTHAUS.
THIS PLEASURE PAVILION PROVIDED A GATHERING SPOT FOR THE IMPERIAL FAMILY AND THEIR GUESTS.
IT'S SET AT THE END OF AN ELEGANT PROMENADE, THE CITY'S MOST FAMOUS BOULEVARD, THE HAUPTALLEE.
TODAY THE PRATER ENCOMPASSES WOODS AND MEADOWS, A RACETRACK, STABLES, A GOLF COURSE, STADIUM, AND AN AMUSEMENT PARK WITH ITS ROLLER COASTER, TRAINS, MIDWAY, AND FAMOUS FERRIS WHEEL.
THE IMPERIAL HUNTING CALENDAR PRESCRIBED STAG HUNTS ON THE WETLANDS IN THE SUMMER, PHEASANT AND HARE IN THE FALL, WILD BOAR IN THE VIENNA WOODS IN WINTER, AND, IN SPRING, THE HUNTING HORNS BLEW FOR FOX HUNTS IN THE PRATER.
