| This dedication can still be seen at the main gate to the park. It is a reminder of Emperor Josef II’s wish to open his family’s pleasure gardens to the public in 1775. Originally imperial hunting grounds in the flood plains of the Danube, it was laid out in formal French style in the 17th century but was devastated in the Turkish wars. Later, Mozart and Beethoven performed here, Johann Strauss Jr. mesmerized the crowds with his waltzes, and Maria Theresa founded a college for beekeeping. Today, the Augarten is one of Vienna’ s oldest surviving parks and is listed as a historic monument. The garden pavilion now houses the headquarters of the Augarten Porzellanmanufaktur, Europe’s second oldest porcelain factory. King Edward VII was entertained in the Baroque Palais Augarten, which since 1948 has been home to the Vienna Boys’ Choir. Also of note is the Lauder Chabad Campus of Vienna’s Jewish Community and MuTh, a venue for music and theatre opened in 2012. Sadly, we can’t escape the forbidding presence of two flak towers, giant World War II fortresses meant to serve both as platforms for anti-aircraft guns and self-contained air-raid shelters. 
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