Vienna Press Release – September 2025 Neighborhood portrait: Piaristenviertel

September 15, 2025. – Beautiful streetscapes, inviting outdoor restaurants, quaint shops and historic theater stages. Just a stone’s throw from Vienna’s city center lies the picturesque Piaristenviertel, which has gained even more appeal in recent years.

The 8th district, Josefstadt, is the smallest of Vienna’s 23 districts in terms of area, but it offers a great deal in terms of culture, cuisine, and architecture. Here you can escape the hustle and bustle and still experience a lot. The Piaristenviertel, one of the district’s neighborhoods in Josefstadt, borders directly on the 1st district. It is located very close to the Ringstrasse, behind Vienna’s City Hall and Parliament. The neighborhood (Grätzel in the Viennese dialect) is easily reached via the U2 Rathaus subway station, but once you arrive, it is best explored on foot.

Around the Piarist Church

Visitors will find the Piarists – after whom the area is named, a male Catholic order founded in the 17th century – around the heart of the quarter, Jodok-Fink-Platz. This is where the Piarist Church of Maria Treu stands, a magnificent Baroque building with ceiling frescoes by Austrian painter Franz Anton Maulbertsch, one of the masters of late Baroque. The church provides a picturesque backdrop for the culinary scene on the square in front: Café-Restaurant Treu am Platzl and the Italian restaurant Il Sestante together create one of Vienna’s most beautiful outdoor dining gardens. Just a few doors down is Café der Provinz, which was designed in the style of a French country house. To the right of the Piarist Church is the Imperial Piaristenkeller, a 300-year-old monastic cellar. During the Austrian monarchy, it was a gathering place for officers from the cavalry barracks; today, it houses not only a restaurant but also the Kaiser Franz Joseph Hat Museum and the Imperial Wine Treasury. Down in the vaulted cellar, you feel transported to a bygone era.

A gourmet stroll through Josefstadt

The 8th district is a paradise for foodies and shoppers who love to explore at their own pace. The variety is impressive, from charming cafés and fine dining establishments to ice cream parlors, there’s something for everyone here. The countless shops offer clothing, home accessories, delicacies, porcelain, sweets, flowers, and much more. Part of Lange Gasse has been one of Vienna’s many ‘shared spaces’ since 2018. These are designated areas where all road users have equal access to the roadway. Every Saturday, producers from Vienna and Lower Austria offer fruit, vegetables, baked goods and dairy produce at the organic and specialty market in this traffic-calmed, accessible section of the street.

Traditional cafés and stages

The main artery of the district is Josefstädter Straße, stretching through the entire Josefstadt. A popular shopping street with a wealth of small shops and eateries, mostly housed in buildings dating from Vienna’s historicist period (late 19th century). Two Viennese coffeehouse institutions are located here: at the city-center end of Josefstädter Straße stands Café Eiles, a historic yet carefully modernized coffeehouse dating back to 1901. Near the other end is Café Hummel, family-run since 1935 and known for its brown faux-leather seating and its traditional sidewalk café. Both cafés are open daily from early morning until late evening and have always been popular meeting spots for figures from politics, science, and the arts.

Speaking of culture: Josefstadt is known as Vienna’s 'theater district.' On Josefstädter Straße you’ll find the Theater in der Josefstadt, founded in 1788 and Vienna’s oldest still-operating theater. In the beautiful red-and-gold auditorium of this box theater, you can enjoy both classics of theatrical history and contemporary works—often with a critical or controversial edge. Also located in Josefsgasse is Vienna’s English Theatre, the oldest English-language theater in continental Europe outside Great Britain. In addition to well-known works from English and American theater literature, crime dramas, comedies, and contemporary plays are also performed here. Another highlight in the Piarist Quarter is Lenaugasse. The entire street is regarded as an example of pre-March architecture and is protected as a historic ensemble. Here you’ll find Kabarett Niedermair, one of Vienna’s most renowned cabaret and small stage venues. 

A foray into a green space

Located very close to the Piarist Quarter is the University Campus in the Alservorstadt district. The building complex, which dates back to the 17th century, once housed the Vienna General Hospital (AKH) before it relocated to a new site in the 1990s. Today, about two-thirds of the ‘Old AKH’ area is used by the University of Vienna. The 96,000-square-meter campus with its ten courtyards is not only a place of study and work for thousands, but also a popular recreational oasis for the people of Vienna, featuring numerous green spaces and restaurants. As part of the subway extension, the new U5 station ‘Frankhplatz’ is expected to open right next to the university campus in 2026.

The Vienna Tourist Board is presenting many other distinctive districts of Vienna under the slogan “Heartbeat Streets”: browse the overview of neighborhoods