Hietzewelle - Ganzen 13.!

On one of the hottest days of the year, we call our tour Hietzewelle.

Part of Whoosh's project is to show that every street is interesting, if you meet the locals and hear the stories. And so Eugene has made tours starting in 22 different districts. The missing one? Hietzing. And so we finally complete the collection by exploring this rich, green, fancy part of Wien West. And Euge has an emotional connection here, because his son Josef was born on the Hauptstrasse, in Austria's only Geburtshaus. And since this was no hospital birth, he was able to DJ at the birth, in 2012, to inspire his wife to push harder and hurt less. The song playing as his son popped out: Sigur Ros' Saeglopur.

Following on from the launch of this tour as part of Vienna Walking Week, the Bezirk liked the idea so much, they have commissioned us to repeat it twice, for free, in September. And because we want the insider perspective, Eugene will be joined by colleague, friend and local resident Dominik Nostitz, who is a musician, curator, lawyer, dreamer, poet.

So what makes Hietzing special? It has hills - which are so important for views and light, but also forests, a zoo, ORF, beautiful villas, fine cafes, lively village-style life, and of course Schönbrunn (the most-visited tourist site in Austria). What can we value from the Habsburgs, in terms of their legacy for Vienna? We will look at Kaiser Franz-Josef's own railway station (used only twice, since he was not so keen on travelling by train), why FM4 recently moved here to Küniglberg, how the district votes (not always as you would expect), and who lives in Vienna's third largest district. It is the least densely-populated Bezirk, the oldest, and the most female. Part of the reason the population is so old is because of how few migrants live here. This is also the most Catholic part of our city.

This is one of the key playgrounds of Wiener Modern, and we will explore some of their experiments and elegance. We will visit the graveyard where Otto Wagner, Klimt, Kolo Moser and Dollfuss are buried. We will look at Klimt's Villa, but Hietzing is also the home district of Andre Heller, one of the key restless characters of Vienna, active on so many fronts, from art to music, history to literature, politics to performance. Other famous residents: Thomas Brezina, Heinz Fischer, Elias Canetti and Hans Moser.

Eugene will explain why eight Gemeindezirken end with the letters -ing, from Ottakring to Doebling. Some people do not like the number 13, finding it unlucky, and so this is another reason the Viennese should use the names of their Districts, instead of all these boring numbers. Hietzing, statt Dreizehnte!

Until the Nazis got involved in city-planning, Penzing and Hietzing were one District. The boundaries of this district are now the Wiental, where the Vienna Woods meet Niederoesterreich, Liesing and Meidling. It is dominated by green, with 71% of its space nature.

The old high street in Hietzing is romantic and atmospheric. Few bombs fell here, because there was so little industry or railways/bridges. This was part of the British occupation of Vienna. How many of you know that singer Marianne Faithfull is the daughter of a British Army officer and a Viennese woman he met here and took back to Hampstead in London?

Join us for a beautiful summer journey in the leafy west.

To conclude the stroll, we have a film screening of local archives, in atmospheric Anna Freud Park.

No need to register - just show up on time.