The Riesenrad – Prater – Vienna

Back in 1897, an Englishman built one of Vienna’s most famous Landmarks, at the request of the then Emperor – Franz Josef I, to mark his Golden Jubilee…

Rebuilt in 1947 after the war (but with fewer cabins for safety reasons) the Giant Ferris Wheel (or Riesenrad as it’s known in these parts) at Vienna’s Prater Park became one of those infamous city symbols that you feel obliged to experience if you are to say that you have explored a place semi thoroughly…  Well it is at least if you are travelling with small children.  I mean, history and a fairground ride in one?   It has to be done right!?

We noted several similarities to Hanayashiki Fun Fair in Tokyo, a city amusement park not quite as old, but equally matching Prater in quirkiness nonetheless (Prater has yet to invest in robotic giant pandas however!).      With  plentiful rides to choose from with promising names such as the Danube Jump, Space Shot and Vampires of Vienna, we admired them from a distance (it was early, and most of them were yet to open (thankfully for me anyway!)) and made our way to the famous big wheel itself (operational 365 days a year apparently!).   I was grateful to note that this Ferris Wheel experience is at least “inside” –  unlike the more modern version opposite – which for someone who has a bit of an aversion to being perilously high up and open to the elements (and on which I also blame my terrible skiing ability), would have been a little unpleasant.

We purchased our tickets for this English designed feat of engineering, and duly noted the similarities between the ferris wheel’s cabins and train carriages (its designer, coming from a country with a past obsession with rail travel, was obviously heavily influenced!) and waited for our turn to commence.  And waited.  And waited.   This wait was due to one of the Riesenrad’s trusty guardians tenderly replacing a troublesome window on the carriage that preceded ours rather strangely…    As we had time to spare, I had time to study our fellow waiting passengers, who consisted of a French lady about to embark at the insistence of her teenage daughter (I notice these things as they tend to happen to me a lot), along with some Austrian visitors chatting excitedly, ahead of what was apparently their first spin on this, their capital’s famous landmark…

As is the case with most ferris wheels, our rotation (finally) commenced with the carriage lifting gently – promising great views of Vienna below – before coming to a swinging stop to allow more passengers to board the cabin after ours.    Busy reading the historical “engravings” of  many years of previous passengers as the fabulous cityscape slowly came into view, I didn’t initially notice the high-pitched noise that began to infiltrate the carriage the higher we got, and which at first I thought was caused by the wind whistling through yet another troublesome window…

As we rose slowly and gracefully higher above the rooftops, it soon became apparent however that the noise was coming from the French lady (to the complete oblivion of her daughter who was busy taking pictures) who wasn’t particularly enjoying this historic experience by the looks or sounds of things,  and gradually increased the noise of each deep breath she took between clenched teeth (the cause of the whistling noise) whilst educating us all in French swear words each and every time the poor soul was brave enough to open her eyes.  We did our best to reassure her, but to no avail…

And this is how I will always remember our trip on The Riesenrad… Not for the amazing view of all four corners of beautiful Vienna below, nor for the opportunity to have a nose at the few empty carriages reserved for intimate dinners (and decked out in preparation for such), and not for the impressively sound mechano-esque structural skeleton of the big wheel itself.  No, I shall always remember the Riesenrad for the impressively vast expletive vocabulary of one nervous passenger, accompanied by the suppressed laughter of all the others…

The views are truly magnificent though.  Pray for a clear day, and completely fearless fellow passengers…