Prater Museum

It's a sunny day at the beginning of September, and I have decided that we should visit the Prater Museum. Since I am dealing with a child who has a very short attention span, a ride or two at the Prater was promised as a reward for giving me enough time to read some of the descriptions at the museum.

A small museum, it aims to introduce visitors to the big and important role of the Prater area as a whole. The exhibition highlights the significance of the Prater as a social and cultural centre of Vienna and its citizens over the past few centuries. A huge mural at the entrance draws attention with its colourful and intriguing illustrations. One could easily spend more than an hour exploring the details, and another hour reading about the characters chosen to be depicted for their contribution to Viennese history. There are many fun little details and educational elements, all presented playfully.

Just as we stepped onto the second floor, a tiny hand started pulling me away from the welcome message, promising something far more intriguing: "Mommy, come! I found something that will help you find someone to like you!" And if you have children, you already know that this is probably not the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever heard about myself. So I followed her, smiling, highly doubtful of the mission's success.

I was led to a wedding automaton that was supposed to tell me everything about my future husband. Sadly, it was out of service, so all hope that someone would eventually like me died right there and then. Would I have spent a coin if it had been working? You bet I would! Even if only to watch the figures move and a little fortune-telling note emerge from the "Für Damen" slot. "First, however, we should end the current marriage," I said aloud and moved on to the next exhibit, completely safe from any man expressing wishes for my hand in marriage (again).

A train ride along the Venetian canals—a themed park that used to entertain the citizens of Vienna in 1895—explained my earlier confusion about a drawing of a Venetian gondola on one of the pathways leading to the Prater. Where people once pretended to stroll along the canals of Venice, a huge tent now awaits guests of the Kaiser Wiesn later that month. From long, heavy dresses and parasols to colourful dirndls and beers in hand, women enjoying themselves at the Prater continue to leave their mark on its rich and entertaining history.

I was pleased to see that the Prater Museum does not shy away from history that is less lighthearted when viewed in retrospect:

The exhibition of the body

"The human body has always been a central feature at the Prater, often figured in highly problematic sets: idealized vs. real, normal vs. abnormal, alien vs. native, powerful vs. weak.    

Anatomical cabinets displayed the human body’s insides, their wax specimens making spectacles of sickness or deformation. Sideshows presented people with disabilities as attractions. Entrepreneurs brought entire villages from Africa and Asia, exhibiting people as living specimens and fanning racist and sexist ideas in the process. The dramas of modern sports – boxing, wrestling, tennis, soccer – also had their Viennese beginnings at the Prater.

To this day, many Prater attractions rely on extremes of bodily experience: dizziness, shock, and panic. It is a rare place of thrill seeking within the confines of modern city life."https://guide.wienmuseum.at/en/objekt/584

A quick, refreshing pause at the balcony, a swift glance at what the top floor had to offer, and I was promptly reminded that "now it is time to go to the real fun!"

I managed to take a brief look at a few more interesting items and photographs before we left the museum and dove into the "real fun" of magic trains, flying cars, bungee jumps, and water slides. All the while, I kept thinking of little Venice in Vienna and felt sorry that we couldn’t take a stroll. We did, however, take the U-Bahn straight to the town centre to get some fancy cotton candy shaped like an enormous pink owl. The day was a total success! An exhausted mother and a very happy child returned home that day, both eager to share their experiences.