Experiencing Medieval Vienna – New Approaches towards the Presentation and Interpretation of Invisible Cultural Heritage

Claudiu SILVESTRU
(Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria)

Keywords: Medieval Vienna, interpretive masterplaning, touristic enhancement

Abstract:
The Viennese Inner City was inscribed in 2001 in the UNESCO World Heritage List, one of the arguments being its outstanding medieval heritage. Although scattered across the historical core, the medieval heritage of Vienna as a whole is hardly a strong touristic attraction. On the one hand this is due to the difference of impact between St. Steven’s Cathedral – Vienna’s Gothic Landmark – and other incomparably less impressive medieval monuments. On the other hand the spatial structure, the touristic infrastructure – combining shopping, gastronomy and accommodation – and above all the built assets of the imperial heritage lead to a touristic trail through the inner city which neglects several medieval jewels – such as the churches of the Minorites or Maria am Gestade.
The paper at hand presents a concept for the interpretation of medieval Vienna which integrates all built cultural heritage assets of the period. As a preamble it discusses the meaning of presentation and interpretation of cultural heritage within contemporary society and individual identity, stressing out the importance of compensating invisible and incomprehensible aspects of cultural heritage through effective storytelling.
The result is an interpretive masterplan which confronts the visitor not only with singular preserved architectural objects, but with the complex spatial and functional structure of the medieval city. Being the holistic cultural heritage of medieval Vienna, the preserved street pattern is used as a grid to develop themes and routs which enable the exploration of different aspects of urban history. As a consequence of the spatially inclusive approach the masterplan addresses a main challenge in touristic enhancement: the connection of different sites and areas of the historical city through storytelling aims at activating a niche attraction to sustain local economy, avoid crowding and increase revisiting value.