Revolutions do not occur spontaneously. They are seeded, nurtured and cultivated like a garden to bloom then blossom under the right conditions.

This was one of the arcane thoughts that came to me while sipping my fragrant white wine on the terrace of the Griechenbeisl Restaurant in Vienna. Austria’s urbane capital city is known for many things – though several significant events that occurred there are known to very few.

Vienna is one of the most important places where modern Greeks developed an intellectual awareness of themselves. The first translations of Western books into Greek, the first newspaper in Greek and, in fact, the establishment of the first Greek publishing house are all major events that can be attributed to the lovely Central European city on the banks of the Danube River.

Wide, blue and swift, the 2850 km long River Danube is Europe’s second longest and the only European river to flow from West to East. The Danube and its 300 tributaries provided many opportunities for Ancient Greeks residing along the Black Sea. They traveled up the Danube’s delta to trade Amber and other minerals to Celtic tribes establishing themselves along one of the four major arms of the Danube in what became Vienna.

Strolling through the busy Schwedenplaz along the Danube Canal at the foot of Rottenturmstrasse, it is hard to imagine that this is probably close to the spot where Greeks and Celts met and where Romans built their camp – named Vindobona (15 BC).

Vienna’s ancient beginnings are very difficult to imagine. Millennia of intense urbanism have literally buried most traces of ancient settlements. Rottenturmstrasse means ‘street of the red tower’ and even that 17th Century edifice is no longer there.

Ruins of large Roman houses from Vindobona can be found down two flights of stairs beneath a shopping arcade on the south side of Vienna’s oldest square – Hoher Markt. I had a hard time finding the entrance to this discreet museum (Tues-Sun 9am-12:15pm & 1-4:30pm) as it is overshadowed by Fisher von Erlach’s massive Vermahlungsbrunnen (Marriage Fountain) and the heavily gilded Ankeruhr clock.

Given that Roman warriors rarely went anywhere without Greeks philosophers or traders, it is highly likely that Greeks had their settlement near this square. As it is, a brief jaunt from the Hoher Markt square through narrow streets filled with cafes and designer clothing stores leads to the medieval meat market area and the aptly named Fleichmarkt Street. Here, on this narrow winding street, and the adjacent Griechengasse lane is where Greeks settled in the 19th Century after the 1781 ‘Toleranzpatent’.

I’m getting ahead of the story here.

After a long period, from the fall of Rome to the early Middle Ages, all trace of Greeks in Vienna is lost. Greeks later came to Vienna not as traders but to enlist in Hapsburg Armies. 17th Century Austrian rulers believed that as restless subjects of the Ottoman Empire, Greeks would take up arms to fight their overlords and many from Macedonian towns such as Kastoria and, notably, Siatista among many other places took up the challenge. When they returned to their homes, their tales of wealth and economic opportunity in the rich city by the Danube led their countrymen to undertake arduous overland travel through the Balkan Mountains to trade and sell furs, pelts and carpets to the prosperous Viennese. I couldn’t help smiling to myself when I thought of these origins as I walked past the prospering Issakidis Carpets boutique on Fleichmarkt.

The often overlooked Wein Museum (on the Karlsplatz, Tues-Sun 9AM-6PM, 4 Euros, free on Sun.) is an excellent place to begin absorbing the rich tapestry of Viennese history. In four sprawling floors it tells the city’s history. Obviously the two dramatic sieges by Ottoman armies in 1529 and 1683 are well covered but my favorite section is a tiny alcove tucked in the back of the third floor where two small, evocative 1824 oil paintings by two different artists depict Greek (by Leopold Theodor Weller) and Turkish (by Dietrich Monten) merchants in their respective coffeeshops. Ironically enough the artists painted their subjects in the same renowned coffeeshop at 24 Fleichmarkt. Today, the site is the rather bland dining room of the Hotel Post. Though the Hotel has its obligatory plaque to Mozart – nothing is mentioned of its past as a meeting place for Greeks and Turks.

Almost a century after foreign fighters helped the Austro-Hungarian Empire in its struggles against Ottoman invaders, its Hapsburg rulers decided to tolerate the religious rights of all those who had heeded the call to defend the empire. This Toleranzpatent was all that Viennese Greeks needed to build their distinctive and discreet domed church – St. Georges (www.agiosgeorgios.at) on Griechengasse. This one block long cobblestone lane starts at Rottenturmstrasse and ends at the Griechenbiesl Restaurant. Later, when the Greek Community expanded, a large church was built (1861) around the corner from St. Georges on Fleichmarkt between the Griechenbiesl and the Issakidis boutique. This distinctive, red-brick church designed by architect Theophil Hansen now contains the offices of the Austrian Orthodox Metropolitan.

Though the Toleranzpatent allowed Viennese Greeks to create a community around their church, it also served as a beacon to expatriate Greeks from less tolerant countries. It consolidated their belief that efforts to foment rebellion among Greeks in occupied Greece would not be stopped by Austro-Hungarian officials.

Events occurring in the solid, four-story, 17th Century building on the corner of Rottenturmstrasse and Fleichmarkt (at 21 Rottenturmstrasse) are a direct result of the religious freedoms allowed by the Toleranzpatent. A plaque on the wall to the left of the massive wooden doors is dedicated to Greek Revolutionary Rigas Velistinlis or Feraios (1757-1798) who is credited with writing the Greek Hymn. The building is the site of the first Greek printing press and publishing house.

This publishing house, founded by Greek businessmen from Siatista, published the first book in Modern Greek – a Greek-German dictionary to help those traders in Greece with their business affairs in German speaking countries like Austria.

Then in 1784 it published the first Greek newspaper established by Zante businessman Georgios Ventotis. This was short-lived but soon replaced (1790-1798) by another newspaper – The ‘Ephemeris’ published by Markidis Poulioi and edited by Rigas Feraios. These newspapers are considered the foundations of the Greek Press.

The neighborhood of 21 Rottenturmstrasse on the edge of the lively entertainment district known as the Bermuda Triangle is typical of Baroque Vienna except for the smattering of Greek heard on the street. The corner pharmacy named ‘Aspro Nicholas Apotheki’ gives away its owner’s heritage. St. Georges Church is a short walk away up nearby Griechengasse past the Artemis Restaurant.

With all this Greek intellectual activity in the Vienna area and the economic clout of sympathetic local Hellenic businessmen, it is easy to understand how the peripatetic traveler and revolutionary Feraios prospered in Vienna, using the city’s libertarian traditions to help stimulate consciousness about their past among Greeks in occupied Greece.

The area of Vienna discussed above is not large in surface area and its significance to Greeks is not well signposted or often discussed by mainstream travel publications. But it merits a visit by all those interested in understanding how and where modern Hellenism sprouted.



Accommodations on Fleishmarktgasse are possible.

At one end is the venerable Hotel Post, Fleichmarkt 24, 1010 Vienna, Austria (Tel: +43151583-0; Fax +43151583-808. Email: office@HOTEL-POST-WIEN.AT; WEBSITE: WWW.HOTEL-POST-WIEN.AT). At the other end is the modern Accor group Mercure Hotel at Fleichmarkt 1a, 1010 Vienna, Austria (Tel: +43153460-0; Fax: +43153460-232.Email: h0781@accor.com;
Website: www.accorhotels.com/mercure_wien_zentrum.htm

The quaint, historic Griechenbeisl Inn is a must for all those seeking authentic Viennese atmosphere, food and wine: Tel: +431 533 1977, Fax: +431 533 1912. Email: office@griechenbeisl.at; Website: http://www.griechenbeisl.at.

A fine overall guidebook to Vienna is The Rough Guide to Vienna. Also, the Vienna Tourist Board has a plethora of brochures and pamphlets: www.wien.info.