We all know Vienna’s famous funfair, the Prater, home to the Riesenrad (aka. ferris wheel). But were you aware that there’s another fairground in Vienna? One that kind of carries that spooky, haunted funfair vibe cuz’ it looks frozen in time & is so quiet most of the year.
Here are 10 kind-of-freaky-kind-of-fun photos of this quirky fairground, with words accompanying the story the pictures tell:
We’re talking the Böhmischer Prater (translation: Bohemian Prater).
Founded in 1883, this pocket-sized amusement park is set along a short street in the 10th district.
You can walk the length of its 21 attractions in just a few minutes.
It’s like one of those Western towns in America that look like they’ve been preserved as a nostalgic museum.
It’s a funfair that speaks of the time before we found most of our entertainment in rectangular devices.
This frozen-in-time fairground was born cuz’ some guy named Franz who owned a small inn decided to put up a swing set and a carousel. It became so popular for Sunday outings that other cafe and restaurant owners followed his lead.
It’s a place for all – whether you’re a hipster or in need of a hip replacement
It’s got rides, cafes, beer gardens and a gentle pace of life.
It’s got a ‘vintage postcard’ look about it, which can be a turn on for those on the quest to be Insta-famous.
There are plenty of clown faces about the place….which is kind of freaky.
Walking around the place, we often feel like the weird figurine characters have got their eyes on us, watching us.
Some of the attractions are over 100 years old, and we’re not just talking about the regulars at the beer gardens. Some of the rides are made out of wood.
We can’t work out if the lit-up eyes of the Donald Duck carriages of a ride is freakier, or the ghost train.
Get high here, without having to try
Fed up with friends boasting that they’ve been on the more famous 64.75-metre high Vienna Riesenrad?
Well, you can beat them on a technicality at the Böhmischer Prater. Although the ferris wheel here is about a third of the Riesenrad’s height, it’s actually on top of Laaer Berg, a hill 251 meters high, meaning the view is even more panoramic! Suckers!
There’s nothing Bohemian about it.
Before you get dressed up in your best boho floral dress, the funfair takes its name from the nearby 19th-century brickworks factory, where many of the workers came from Bohemia.
One of the reasons the fair was built to take their – and their family’s – minds off their working conditions, which was worse than being a proctologist’s probe-cleaner.
Pig out with real pigs (just don’t order the bacon)
Fun fact – if you get hungry and decide to stop off at the Gasthaus, Zum Werkelmann, to pig out on Palatschinken, you may wonder if you’re seeing things on the way to the toilet when you bump into the porky little fella, above.
With its old world charm, peaceful atmosphere and occasional creepy-looking dolls, Böhmischer Prater is the quirky cousin of Vienna’s better-known amusement park.
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