MuTh: The Vienna Boys' Choir at the Augartenspitz
Why is it significant?
At the southern point of the Augarten, where two streets meet like the bow of a ship, you see a curving modern building of glass and pale stone attached to an old Baroque gatehouse. It is the MuTh, short for music and theatre, the concert hall of the Vienna Boys' Choir.
Key Facts
| Place | MuTh: The Vienna Boys' Choir at the Augartenspitz |
|---|---|
| Address | Am Augartenspitz 1, 1020 Wien, Austria |
| Geo Coordinates | 48.21970, 16.38020 |
| Part of Walk | The Island Across the Canal: Vienna's Leopoldstadt, Augarten and Prater |
| Generated | Generated |
At the southern point of the Augarten, where two streets meet like the bow of a ship, you see a curving modern building of glass and pale stone attached to an old Baroque gatehouse. It is the MuTh, short for music and theatre, the concert hall of the Vienna Boys' Choir.
The choir is far older than the building. Its roots go back to 1498, when Emperor Maximilian I ordered that his court chapel should have boys singing in it. For centuries these boys sang at mass for the Habsburgs. One of them, from 1808, was a schoolmaster's son from the suburbs called Franz Schubert, and the story goes that when his voice broke in 1812, he scribbled into a sheet of music that he had crowed for the last time.
After the monarchy fell in 1918, the court chapel had no more court, and the boys' choir nearly disappeared. In 1924 it was refounded as a private institution, dressed in sailor suits, and sent around the world. Today there are four touring choirs of boys aged around ten to fourteen, and they give hundreds of concerts a year on every continent. Their boarding school is in the Augarten palace you have just passed.
This little hall was not built quietly. When the plans appeared, many residents fought to keep this corner of the historic park free of new buildings. There were petitions, court cases and an occupation of the site that lasted many months. In the end the hall was built and opened in December 2012. Whatever you think of it, the fight showed how much the people of Leopoldstadt love their Augarten.
If the doors are open and you hear voices inside, stop and listen: few sounds in Vienna are as old as this one. Now leave the park and head south-east through the quiet streets to Praterstraße, the old grand boulevard of the district, and a square named after a comedian.