Landstraße is the 3rd district of Vienna and was created in 1850 by incorporating former suburbs. It is located southeast of the Inner City (1st district) and is one of the inner districts, the extended city center. As the only one of the districts 3 to 9, after their incorporation the Gürtel was built at their edge as a thoroughfare, the 3rd district has its outer border not at this street, but further away from the center. On the district territory you can find the Belvedere Palace, the Hundertwasser House, the Arsenal as well as cultural institutions and embassies.

Culture and sights

St. Roch's Church was built in 1687 after its predecessor, which was only a few decades old, was destroyed during the Second Vienna Turkish Siege in 1683. The St. Nikolai cemetery in front of the church was abandoned in 1784, and the remains of those buried here were transferred to the St. Marx cemetery, today the site of the Rochusmarkt.

Parks and cemeteries

Parks have a long tradition in the Landstraße district due to the large number of palaces. Prince Eugene of Savoy had his Belvedere Palace built between 1700 and 1721 by the architect Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt, for which the garden artist Dominique Girard designed a Baroque garden. Close to the Belvedere Garden is also the Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna, which dates back to a "Hortus Medicus" (medicinal plant garden) laid out by Archduchess Maria Theresa in 1754.

Other sights

The Belvedere Palace in the western part of the district consists of the Upper and Lower Belvedere as well as extensive gardens. After the signing of the State Treaty on May 15, 1955, Foreign Minister Leopold Figl presented the document on the balcony of the Belvedere. The act became a media icon in the recording of the words "Austria is free!" spoken in the Marble Hall after the signing. Between the Belvedere and Schwarzenbergplatz is Palais Schwarzenberg, which served as a summer palace for Adam Franz Karl Prince von Schwarzenberg.