After a beautiful sunrise, I walked up the Wilhelminenberg (a hill overlooking the city of Vienna) to watch some impressive morning fog hanging over the Danube river.
The Wilhelminenberg is named after Princess Wilhelmine (1820-1895), the wife of Prince Moriz Montléart (1812-1887), who had inherited a palace on top of this hill. After changing hands many times, the palace was eventually torn down and replaced with a new and larger version during the first decade of the 20th century. It is now a luxury hotel.
From the palace grounds there is a wonderful view over the city of Vienna, from the Danube river and city center towards the east, to the hills of the Wienerwald (Vienna forest) in the southwest. Today there was a thick morning fog hanging over the Danube, with only the tallest buildings on the other side of the river sticking their heads up above the clouds. Quite an impressive sight…
Finally, on the way back down, I had a quick look at the Montléart Mausoleum (right next to the palace grounds), which was built in 1887 for the former owners of the (original) Wilhelminenberg palace.
The Wilhelminenberg is one of my favorite places for great views over Vienna. It can be reached on foot by following Stadtwanderweg 4a (a city walking trail) or by bus 46A, both starting at the Ottakring U3 metro station.