"A summer house was found in Heiligenstadt; the house is delightfully situated on the quiet and sunny Pfarrplatz, in the middle of which stands a statue of John of Nepomuk, surrounded by four acacia trees. Saint Florian looks down from the corner of the house, where he stands in front of a blue background; a wide gate leads into the courtyard; wild vines overgrow the open wooden staircase on the long side of the house, which is used to climb up to the primitive rooms, the windows of which have a wide view over the Danube, across to the Marchfeld, where Countess Erdödy lives at her country seat…"
- Joseph Aug. Lux, in his 1927 Beethoven biography.
“Do you know that Beethoven used to live here, in that room upstairs, where he composed his Symphony no. 9?” our friend Martin told us, pointing to a tiny window that peeked from behind the vines on the wall in near-pitch dark, before we entered the warmth that was the heuriger (a typical Austrian wine-tavern where wine-growers serve the most recent year’s wines).
Vienna is full with such joyful surprises, and this heuriger is no exception—aside from the Beethoven history, and there is good traditional Austrian food to be had, a la carte or cafeteria-style (with extra points for wild board roast served with potato-cabbage strudel, the kasspressknodel suppe, clear beef soup with cheese-bread dumpling and the organic roast chicken, courtesy of the region of Styria, nicely complemented by chives spaetzle).
There are also wonderful wines aplenty, best drunk young, especially the Gemischter Satz, a refreshing field blend only found within the 621 ha or so of vineyards within Vienna. We shared a bottle and loved it. The tables are spacious, the music delightful, the atmosphere cheerful and full of Gemutlichkeit.
