Before Sunrise
This post is about a day spent tracking down different scenes from Before Sunrise in Vienna. A good way to explore the city.
Brad wanted to go and see some more places from Before Sunrise. I remembered watching that movie and hating it, but her enthusiasm felt so genuine, it was somehow contagious.
don’t leave me and Franzi
We went to the Mariahilf church first. The movie had a scene with a church in it, but it was a bit odd, because it had been shot in two different locations: the outside shots had been taken at Maria am Gestade, a gothic church in a different part of town, while the inside shots had been taken here, in Mariahilf.
It was a baroque church from the late 17th century. It seemed a bit less dark and gloomy than in the movie. One thing that caught my attention was a niche with a statue of the Virgin Mary and some candles. There were tiles on the walls, most of which had names and dates on them, along with either a wish or a thankful note. They seemed to suggest that people had donated money to the church and received a memorial tile in return.
One of them was from 1944, from the depths of World War II. VERLASS MICH U. FRANZI NICHT it said: “don’t leave me and Franzi”.
the record store
We went to Teuchtler’s record store after this. Only a very short scene had been filmed there, and yet people were still coming to the store to listen to the song from the movie.
The owners turned out to be very nice. They asked us if we had come for the movie, and when we said yes they offered us to listen to the song that was played in the scene. They patiently answered all of our questions, and in the end Brad got herself a tote bag with the logo of the store.
the fountain
We walked around a lot after that. We went to the Albrecht fountain (in the movie), then we walked past the Hofburg (not in the movie) to Michael’s Square (also not in the movie).
There were a few streets that we went to, then there was a river promenade, and finally, there was Maria am Gestade, the church where the outside church scene had been filmed. We arrived there at night, just like in the movie.
Tracking down scenes from the movie was a nice way to explore the city, and whenever we found another one, Brad’s face lit up. To me it felt a bit like a scavenger hunt, which made sense because the German word for scavenger hunt is Schnitzeljagd (schnitzel hunt), and the most famous schnitzels in the world apparently came from Vienna.
pictures
looking for Before Sunrise in Vienna: