CRUISING for SEX

by Doug McClelland

(posted August, 2008)

Vienna

Vienna is the capital city of Austria with a population of about 2.3 million people. For most of the past millennium Vienna was the capital of a much bigger and more powerful country than the current Austria. Vienna still has the feel of an imperial capital, and is much grander than seems appropriate for a country of just 8 million people.

During the 640 years of rule by the Hapsburg dynasty from 1278 to 1918 the country’s borders shifted back and forth across central Europe via battles and dynastic marriages. In 1867 the emperor of Austria also became the King of Hungary in a dual monarchy. After the First World War Austria was reduced from a cosmopolitan empire of 50 million to a small German-speaking republic of 6.5 million. Between the wars Austria was absorbed into Nazi Germany (Hitler was originally from Austria), and became the German province of Osmark. After the Second World War Austria regained its independence in 1955, as a neutral state on the cold war border. Austria eventually joined the European Union in 1994, and with the subsequent EU expansions, now sits at the center of modern Europe.

Both in the past and in the present, gays have played a prominent (and unusually public) role in Vienna’s life. The most prominent homosexual in Austrian history was Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736) who freed Vienna from Turkish siege and pushed the Ottomans back to the Balkans. But it wasn’t just on the battlefield that Eugene was surrounded exclusively by men. In private, he preferred members of his own sex; a fact well known even during his lifetime, and by the three Emperors he served.

The last emperor served by Prince Eugene, Charles VI, had an intimate relationship with Count Michael Johann Althan III. When Althan died in 1722, the grieving emperor recalled in his official eulogy that they had “loved each other intimately 19 years long.”

Emperor Franz Joseph tolerated the flamboyant activities of his younger gay brother, Archduke Ludwig Viktor (1842-1919), known affectionately as ‘Luziwuzi’ among his friends. Luziwuzi had a reputation at court for cross-dressing. On one of his regular visits to the Centralbad indoor swimming pool (today’s gay Kaiserbründl Sauna) he touched off a public scandal when he groped a young military officer in the pool who had to slap him to stop his advances.

Three suggestions for things to see as a tourist in Vienna are as follows. The Hofburg Palace in Vienna is the former imperial residence. From 1438 to 1583 and from 1612 to 1806, it was the seat of the kings and emperors until 1918. Today it is the official seat of the President. It’s a grangeous pile of romantic architecture that you can tour.

The Spanish Riding School is a famous attraction and 80-minute performances of Lipizzan horse riding have a regular schedule posted here.The presentation builds on four centuries of experience and tradition in horse riding. You may remember a movie produced by Disney studios, entitled Miracle of the White Stallions in 1963 depicted the Spanish Riding School and the rescue of its horses from advancing Soviet forces by General George S. Patton.

The Vienna Boy’s Choir is a choir of boy sopranos and altos based in Vienna, and founded in 1498. The boys are selected mainly from Austria, but also from many other countries around the world. Their performance schedule can be found here.

A good place to find reasonably priced accommodation is Pension Wild, a gay friendly inexpensive guest house that is well located, and has the popular Sport Sauna bathhouse in it’s basement.

The center of today’s gay scene is the ‘Rosa Lila Villa’, the gay community center. Many of the gay hangouts are situated near the Villa, along Linke Wienzeile and Rechte Wienzeile streets. Austrians are normally reserved, even in raunchy bars. Most guys come to the bar with friends, and mingling (especially if you don't speak German) can sometimes be challenging. But that all drops away in the back rooms that you’ll find in many bars.

I like bear bars because I find the men there are generally both friendly and easily available. So I would start an evening in Vienna at Alte Lampe, the oldest gay bar in Vienna and the bar for bears and mature men. For something more adventurous I’d head to the Eagle, Vienna's premiere leather bar where its dark wood paneling and basement setting give it just enough of an edgy, sleazy atmosphere. There is a small leather shop that sells everything from studded jockstraps to poppers. Drinking is done in the two small rooms out front, served by a friendly staff. The large backroom usually has as many men humping in it as the front two rooms combined. There are two or three small booths that lock and the toilet stalls in the bathrooms are full of fucking couples too. The Eagle is busiest on Friday and Saturday nights, but it also gets a respectable crowd on Sundays. It's a late-night bar so don't show up before 11 pm.

The Nightshift is a hot bar, which is a brick vaulted, underground, leather and jeans place with a big backroom and lots of action. If you are looking for hardcore action, try Stiefelknecht, a strictly men’s-only fetish bar where you have to be buzzed in. It has slings, videos, and a big dark room. Other fun options are Boy Zone, a cruising bar with a darkroom, or the Why Not, which has dancing as well as videos and a dark room. Club Date has cruisy darkroom action, with videos and on Sundays a Naked Underwear Party. There is also The Sling, which advertises “Welcome: horny men only...please, no prostitutes or perfumed drama queens." It’s a two-floor cruising space and bar with cabins, slings, shower, and cinema open till 6 am with a big back room.

Then there is the very serious club called [lo:sch]. It’s the club for the leather and motorcycle community of Vienna, and they host an ever-changing series of fetish nights in a men-only space. It’s an impressively equipped, raunchy leather and rubber sexclub, with plenty of space to explore, and a bathtub for watersports. They take there leather and Fetish seriously, so if that’s your thing, check out the party list on their Web site.

If you like the baths there is a fabulous old historic bath in Vienna that is now a gay bath. The Kaiserbründl was once the center of high society but now it is probably the most elaborate gay bath in the world. Though you're likely not going there for either the history or the architecture, both are noteworthy. The facility was a public bath as far back as the Roman era, and in the 19th century the bath (then called the Centralbad) was a socially prestigious place to be seen. Rebuilt in 1887, Kaiserbründl offers an impressive interior Moorish décor, which has been nicely renovated. The bathhouse consists of three floors, two bars and a darkroom maze. Thursdays are under-25 year old nights; at other times there is a wide range of ages. In the afternoons there are some of rentboys.

For the conventional bath experience there are a number of good options. The Sport Sauna is a clean, intimate sauna is frequented by a young crowd and includes steamroom, dark room, and cabins. There's also a bar where alcoholic drinks and snacks are available. It is located beneath the gay friendly guesthouse called Pension Wild (the owner is named Wild, it’s not a description of the ambience). The Apollo City Sauna has two floors with a terrace, steamroom, pool, and rooms for hire. Apollo offers discounts for students and guys under 26 years old. Sauna Frisco aims for an American style experience, and on Wednesday and Friday those under 25 years old get in free.

There is also a very interesting place called Sauna Papillon, which is a bisexual venue, with party rooms, sauna and bar. It’s the kind of place you could never have in North America, men and women having sex in every possible combination, plus food and drink.

For sex shop cruising check out Spartacus, which is Vienna’s largest gay store and includes a sex area they call SexWorld, which has a porn theatre plus video cabins. There is also Man for Man, which also has a porn cinema with darkroom and cabins.

If you like outdoor cruising, the scene is well developed in Vienna. The Rathaus Park as you face the magnificent Dutch Gothic town hall facade is probably the busiest place, especially in the late hours when bars close. In summer, try the Donau Insel on the Danube with its nude beaches at either end -- especially the northern one on weekends. As well, there is a lot of cruising in the downtown public bathrooms; for example, in Shonburn Park at the corner of Floriangasse and Langegesse, which is know for its sleazy graffiti.

So if you are heading for Central Europe you should be including Vienna in your cruising schedule.

Recommended in this article (see the Sex Listings for details):

Apollo Sauna, 1070 Wien, Wimbergergasse 34. Bathhouse with full facilities.

Boy Zone, Wien 1040, Schikanedergasse 12. Cruise bar with dark room.

Club Date, Wien 1040, Schikanedergasse 12. Cruise bar with dark room.

Donau Insel. Nude sunbathing and cruisy beach.

Eagle Vienna, 1060 Wien, Rudolf Reiss Blümelgasse 1 A. Cruise bar with dark room.

Frisco Sauna, 1050 Wien, Schönbrunner Strasse 28. Bathhouse with full facilities.

Kaiserbrundl, Wein1, Weihburgrasse 18-20. Bathhouse with full facilities.

Man for Man, Wien 1050-A, Hamburgerstrasse 8. Bookstore with arcade, cinema.

Nightshift, Wien 1050, Corneliusgasse 8. Cruise bar with dark room.

Papillon Sauna, 1090 Wien, Müllnergasse 5. Bathhouse with full facilities.

Rathhaus Park. Cruisy park, toilet.

SexWorld, Wien 1060, Mariahilfer Strasse 46. Bookstore with arcade, cinema.

Shonburn Park, at Floriangasse and Langegesse. Cruisy park, toilet.

The Sling, Wien 1040, Kettenbrückengasse 4. Sexclub.

Sport Sauna, 1080 Wien, Lange Gasse 10. Bathhouse with full facilities.

Stiefelknecht, Wien 1050, Wimmergasse 20. Cruise bar with dark room.

Why Not, 1010 Wien, Tiefer Graben 22. Cruise bar with dark room.

[lo:sch], Wien 1150-A, Fünfhausgasse 1. Sexclub.

Previous travels:

Comments, suggestions, compliments, criticism? You can write to Doug, The Pleasure Activist, at doug@cruisingforsex.com.

Doug McClelland originally entered the adult entertainment business as a centerfold for BEAR magazine, but he soon moved from the front of the camera to behind it. In 1995 he founded chisel.com, one of the original gay porn sites, which in 1996 was the first gay site to netcast live video. He has produced, directed, and occasionally appeared in adult videos. His association with Cruising for Sex began when Chisel became the second sponsor of our site. For the last few years he wrote our advice column called the Guidance Counselor. In the Pleasure Activist column he is our travel reporter, sharing tips and stories from his personal travels.

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