Tag Archives: Bregenz

5 architectural highlights in Vorarlberg

Today I have an article published over at http://www.whatsdoto.in – it is about “Vorarlberg – a must see for lovers of good architecture

To accompany that article I would love to highlight 5 buildings in my region, that I like especially:

Kunsthaus Bregenz

Bregenz Kunsthaus...Kind of Blue

This is one of Vorarlbergs best architectural building – planned by Peter Zumthor, who won the Pritzker Prize for this building and the Therme Vals (click here for more about that), this is a must see for all architecture fans. As a plus you might find some architectural exhibitions inside the building, as it houses the Museum for Modern Art of Vorarlberg. Do not forget to take a coffee afterwards in the Museum café as this is a good example for good interior architecture.

 Festspielhaus Bregenz

Bregenz Festspielhaus

Bregenz Festspielhaus (Photo credit: digital cat )

A short walk from the Kunsthaus Bregenz next to Lake Konstanz takes you to the Festspielhaus Bregenz. This building was planned by Dietrich-Untertrifaller, a architectural company from Vorarlberg. This building might look familiar to you, there were parts of “James Bond – Quantum of Solace” shot in this building. Every summer there are the Bregenzer Festspiele – an opera festival, with one opera being staged on the  lake arena. Its one opera for two years, and every two years the whole stage is completely rebuild – do not miss out on this.

Nordwesthaus and office building, Hafen Rohner, Fussach

Deutsch: Das "Nordwesthaus" ist ein ...

Image via Wikipedia

In Fussach, a small village at the Lake Konstanz you can see this two great buildings by Baumschlager-Eberle. One, looking a little bit like a gun, is an office building, the other one, with its crystalline structur is a place for events and exhibitions – they both are parts of the “Hafen Rohner” (Port Rohner).

 Angelika Kauffmann Museum, Schwarzenberg

This museum offers something different, to the other buildings. Dietrich Untertrifaller, the architects of this building, had the task to take a 500 year old house and adapt it to a modern museum. Here you can see a mixture of old traditional architecture with modern Vorarlberger wood-architecture. The museum itself is great to see as well – Angelika Kauffmann was one of Austrias most famous neoclassical painters.

 Schneggarei, Lech

At this stop you will not only see great architecture, you can also have great food and an impressive landscape. Looking like a typical ski hut, this building offers a lot for people, who love the “hidden details” of houses.

You can find details to all mentioned buildings by clicking on their name. Unfortunately they are in german – but I believe the pictures give you a good idea about the buildings.

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Traveling through Austria by Train

Today I would love to introduce you to a very convenient way to travel Austria – by railway. A lot of the major cities, in Austria are connected that way.

ÖBB tracksI just recently wrote a guest article at Voyage Articles – Three Cities to visit in Austria. There I wrote a short review about the three major Cities, tourists visit in Austria. The nice thing about Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck is, that they are very well connected – not only by car, but also by train. They are all part of the Westbahn-Trasse, which connects Bregenz (Vorarlberg) to Vienna – this route is one of the backbones of the Austrian railway system. This way you can go from Vienna to Salzburg in approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes. Innsbruck – Salzburg are another 2 hours and to go to Vorarlberg you will need another 2 hours. But it is well worth the way, as the railway tracks between Innsbruck and Vorarlberg run over high bridges and through narrow alpine valleys.

A lot of trains are on international routes – there are a lot of trains from Vienna to Zurich (via Feldkirch, Innsbruck, Salzburg); there are trains from Munich to Rome (via Innsbruck) and from Munich to Vienna (via Salzburg) – others run from Bregenz to Budapest (via Innsbruck, Salzburg, Vienna).

There is a second major route – the Südbahn. It takes you from Vienna to Carinthia (via Graz) and connects to Venice.

Visiting Europe by train is a very good alternative, as it is convenient, safe and gives you a lot of opportunities to see rural Europe. I love to travel by train, as it gives me time to read, to meet people or to work (I prefer it to flying – check out this article) There are international train tickets for Tourists who want to use the railway system in different countries – you can find information for international visitors at Eurails Homepage – European Travelers can use the Interrail System.

Deutsch: Panoramablick vom Kapuzinerberg auf d...

Image via Wikipedia

Other important links:

ÖBB (Austrian railways) Route planner: click here

Westbahn (private operator from Vienna to Salzburg): click here

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