As with all Vienna's balls, The Rainbow Ball opens with a traditional procession

The Ball Season Is But One of Vienna's Many Winter Charms

text and images by Robert La Bua

Vienna, Europe's grandest city (sorry, Paris), has exerted charms over its visitors of every ilk for centuries; with unparalleled imperial wealth, Baroque architecture, avant-garde art, fine cuisine, and the gregarious live and let live lifestyle among the country's younger generations, it's not hard to understand why.  Now that Austria has enacted same-sex union legislation as of 1 January 2010, it's a great time to give a show of support and make a visit to explore one of the most gay-welcoming cities in Europe. 

Vienna's Imperial Palace is a focal point of the city both figuratively and geographically; it is home to a multitude of worthwhile attractions such as the magnificent Prunksaal library and the imposing Imperial Apartments, where any Sisi would feel at home.  The Imperial Palace is also home of the famous Spanish Riding School—and who doesn't like to watch handsome stallions riding handsome horses?  With so much on offer in Vienna, it is impossible to see everything in one visit.  One of the best ways to get to know Vienna in limited time is to focus on an area or a theme; it is very easy to stay happily ensconced in one part of the city, getting to know it well, while still having a complete Viennese experience.

Austrian gAy-lister Gery Keszler, founder of Life Ball, mit zwei Freundinnen at the Rainbow Ball

Austrian LGBT association HOSI celebrates 30 years at The Rainbow Ball

This is the case in Schönbrunn, only a few kilometres from the city centre but a self-contained world of imperial riches, nature, and Austrian Gemütlichkeit, one of many descriptive words in the German language—like Zeitgeist, Weltanschauung, and Schadenfreude—used in English for the nuanced connotations they express.  Gemütlichkeit is hard to define exactly, but it means something along the lines of cosiness, warmth, welcome, friendliness, and good feelings all rolled into one, making the word a perfect adjective for Vienna. 

Schönbrunn was the imperial summer palace of the mighty Habsburgs.  Even more sumptuous than the Imperial Apartments in the Imperial Palace, Schönbrunn's rooms offer another glimpse into the lives of the Habsburgs, whose empire came to an end in 1918 in Schönbrunn's Chinese Blue Salon when Emperor Karl I was obliged to sign a decree bringing an end to 640 years of rule.  Only forty rooms are open to the public, but they are enough to convey the sense of pomp and grandeur befitting an empire.  Schönbrunn Palace is located on enormous grounds more than a kilometre long and a kilometre wide on which are found numerous major attractions in addition to the palace itself.  Aside from the stately Gloriette crowning the hill beyond the elaborate palace gardens, appealing even under a blanket of snow, there is the classic, iron-and-glass Palm House containing numerous tropical plants species within its graceful structure; the Palm House is a glass palace fit for the plant kingdom. If the northern winter months are the perfect time for a hot-weather getaway, Vienna can provide that, too; the Desert Experience House, across from the Palm House, is a warm enclosure simulating desert environment for flora and fauna.  Nearby is the Menagerie, also known as Zoo Vienna; it is the oldest zoo in the world, though one that has kept up with the times in animal care and management.  In winter, the cold-climate species thrive in their outdoor enclosures, so go enjoy the penguins, seals, and polar bears.  Surprisingly, the big cats like lion, leopard, and cheetah are not averse to snow—even if not from Kilimanjaro—and can be seen outdoors as well.  Also on the grounds of Schönbrunn is the Carriage Museum, home to an astonishing array of imperial coaches and carriages beyond anything imaginable today.  The amount of time and workmanship expended to create these priceless vehicles cannot be imagined.

Forget Paris, it's Vienna that is Europe's grandest city

Unlike most palaces open for public visits, Schönbrunn does not go to sleep at night for two very good reasons.  One is an ever popular performance of the Schönbrunn Palace Concert Series given in the palace's Orangery.  Here, in one of the most intimate venues in Vienna, visitors may enjoy classical entertainment only metres away.  A favourite of visiting royalty—i.e., queens from across the world—a VIP ticket offers front-row seats and a glass of champagne.  Schönbrunn packages are available with any combination of palace visit, concert, and dinner to make a full day of imperial splendour a reality.  For some lucky people, it is a reality every day.  The second reason Schönbrunn does not go to sleep at night is that, amazing as this sounds, the palace contains approximately 160 apartments occupied by full-time residents.  In Vienna, you don't have to be royal to live in a palace; any attentive prospective tenant with a rental bond and good timing can take up residence. 

Gender Check, MUMOK's provocative exhibit

Impressive physiques abound around Vienna, but not all are made of stone

In a country whose beloved Prince Eugene was a confirmed bachelor and unconfirmed bachelor connoisseur—even if he did prefer his own Belvedere Palace to Schönbrunn as a summer residence—it is not surprising to learn that the vicinity of the imperial palace of Schönbrunn serves as a perfect long weekend destination for LGBT travellers, especially if that weekend happens to be the last of January, when the city's ball season is in full swing and our very own Rainbow Ball takes place.  Among the glittering gowns and fine black tie jackets is an assortment of gay Vienna's creamiest crème de la crème, and this year's event held on 30 January was no exception.  Coming up on 11 February is The Rose Ball at Heaven, one of Vienna's venerable nightclubs, where a less formal air of excitement takes over the night with a raunchy/stylish night on the town.

Vienna is cosmopolitan on many levels, not the least of which is the city's openness regarding sexuality.  The Rainbow Ball and The Rose Ball are two of many LGBT events held in Vienna throughout the year.  The Identities Queer Film Festival is a biennial event showcasing LGBT cinematic arts; , the Vienna Rainbow Parade (this year to be held on 3 July), and of course, Life Ball, the most spectacular LGBT event of them all, this year taking place on 17 July.  Life Ball, the biggest fundraising event in Austria for HIV/AIDS organisations, is the most glamorous gay event in Europe and attracts a bevy of beauties, from obligatory, scantily clad manimals to the likes of Eva Longoria, Vivienne Westwood, Bill Clinton, and beautifully clad icepicker Catherine Trammell, a.k.a. Sharon Stone, a passionate supporter of HIV/AIDS fundraising.  In a typical show of solidarity and recognition of the importance of Life Ball, which is held at a Vienna City Hall transformed from bureaucratic bastion to den of pseudoiniquity, list of attendees may include anyone from the mayor of Vienna to the President of Austria.  During Life Ball, Vienna goes all out to show visitors what gay life is like in a place where government strives to enhance the lives of the homocitizenry.  A list of the top LGBT events in Vienna may be found on the Vienna tourism website here; this list includes the Vienna Bear Congress.  Those unfamiliar with bears—the gay, human kind—may be surprised to know that these big, hairy guys are among the most avid of travellers and are now actively courted by tourism offices ahead of the curve in tourism strategy, as are those with an affinity for leather attire—and I don't mean shoes.  Vienna In Black just happens to coincide with the display of military finery parading on Austria's National Day, 26 October.  The uniforms aren't bad, either.

Promenade by Tatyana Antoshina, one of the works on display in the Gender Check exhiibit

The Rainbow Ball has been held in the Festsaal of the Parkhotel Schönbrunn for many years; the hotel was built as the private guesthouse of the emperor and has seen many a celebrated face apply pancake and foundation in its mirrors.  Rooms on the top floor have private terraces with views of the enormous park surrounding Schönbrunn Palace.  The hotel is slated to begin renovation in a couple of months and should be an even greater venue for the Rainbow Ball once it reopens.  In the meantime, the chic Hotel Altstadt in the residential Seventh District will do just fine.  This eclectic little hotel defies conventional definition; located in a classic Viennese building shared with full-time residents occupying their own voluminous residences, Hotel Altstadt is one man's vision of contemporary European hotel concept encapsulated in spacious rooms and apartments, all decorated with avant-garde modern art to contrast with the building's historical roots.  At Altstadt, you come and go as you please with direct access to your accommodation, giving the feel of a private abode rather than a hotel.  Very discreet.  Owner Otto Wiesenthal and his capable team of friendly staff make a stay at Hotel Altstadt more a stay at the luxurious home of an Austrian aristocrat rather than a stay in a hotel; if the rooms done up by South Tyrol Italian interior designmeister Matteo Thun do not grab your attention, the classic size of the hotel's fashionable suites certainly will.  When it comes to hotel rooms, bigger is always better; the Otto Suite, for example, makes the perfect one-bedroom pied-à-terre, complete with private rooftop terrace looking over Vienna and proximity to Museumsquartier, the largest museum complex in Europe.  The Viennese are avid art connoisseurs and appreciate their city's cultural patrimony with gusto.  Most visitors from lesser endowed places—i.e., everywhere else in the world—follow suit in spades.  Just beyond Museumsquartier are the Museum Of Fine Arts and the Museum Of Natural History; the buildings are Viennese landmarks and are themselves worth a visit.  They contain priceless collections which can be visited in the evenings during Dinner At The Museum under the soaring cupola of the Museum Of Fine Arts.  A wonderfully Viennese experience not to be missed.  With food provided by Gerstner, one of Vienna's most revered purveyors of fine food, and patronised mostly by the Viennese themselves, this authentic and very special dinner takes place every Thursday night.

Parkhotel Schönbrunn's lovely ballroom ceiling above The Rainbow Ball

MUMOK (Vienna's Museum of Modern Art), one of the five major components of the Museumsquartier, is currently showing another of the frequent art exhibits with GLBT themes that take place in Vienna; the current Gender Check presents a look at the role of gender in Eastern European art before the fall of communism.  Among the many provocative works is a very moving video of an anti-gay demonstration in Serbia where the policemen were attacked by hatemongering louts while protecting the gay marchers—quite a contrast to life in Vienna, which to me seems to be the happiest city in Europe.  The locals know they've got it good and do not take their high quality of life for granted.  From the near-endless number of performing arts events every day and night of the year (try to see at least one performance in the Vienna State Opera House) to such esoteric attractions as an incinerator decorated by a quirky artist (Austrian-born New Zealand resident Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who died aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2 in 2000), there is no shortage of activities no matter how unusual your tastes.

To do a bit of shopping, you can clutch the pearls at the Schönbrunn branch of Dorotheum, the legendary Viennese auction house, just around the corner from Parkhotel Schönbrunn.  An apt microcosm of Vienna, Dorotheum's flagship location in the city centre is awash with a near-endless display of valuable objects and their well-heeled admirers, most of whom are there to buy, not just to gawk.  Unlike most auction houses, Dorotheum also sells merchandise at fixed prices for immediate purchase as do the fine shops along Kärtnerstrasse, Graben, and Kohlmarkt in Vienna's golden triangle of retail therapy.  Amidst well-known international brands seen in every city these days are the best of Austria's unique products such as Lobmeyr crystal and Augarten porcelain, not to mention Demel confectionery.

Schönbrunn Palace