Augarten

The Augarten was laid out as a formal French garden in the seventeenth century and was opened to the public by Joseph II in 1775, with an inscription at the gate declaring it a place of pleasure dedicated to all people - which makes it the oldest baroque garden in Vienna and the first opened as a public park anywhere in the city. It is a grid of avenues under mature trees. Standing in it are two of the six Flaktürme built in Vienna in 1942 to 1944 - vast reinforced concrete anti-aircraft towers, one a gun platform and one a fire-control tower, too solid to demolish safely in a residential district and so left where they are, derelict and fenced. The Augarten porcelain manufactory, working since 1718, and the Vienna Boys' Choir school are both in the park.

What you actually see

• A baroque garden opened in 1775 - the first public park in Vienna.
• Two wartime flak towers - concrete anti-aircraft structures left standing, unusable.
• The Augarten porcelain works - manufacturing since 1718, with a museum and shop.
• Avenues of mature trees - the formal grid under a full canopy.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The flak towers are fenced and cannot be entered - they are looked at. The manufactory tour needs booking. The park is large and plain, and parts feel neglected.

Nearby

The Prater is east; the Danube canal and the first district are south.