Hitler's Vienna: Empire, War & the Holocaust

2–3 hours Free cancellation Private tour

Hitler's Vienna Tour by Jan — Photos: the activity supplier, via Viator

Tour starts at next to the Opera, the Albertina, and Monument against War and Fascism. — Photos: the activity supplier, via Viator

About this activity

Step into Vienna's final decades as an imperial capital on this walking tour along the Ringstrasse Boulevard and through the Hofburg Palace. Discover the empire's mounting crises, and how this city shaped the mind of a young Adolf Hitler.

Presented in a balanced way, this tour suits newcomers and history buffs alike. We'll examine the geopolitical, social, and racial tensions of Vienna's final imperial decades — from Mayor Karl Lueger's populist politics to the rise and persecution of Vienna's Jewish community — and trace how these forces shaped young Hitler's worldview.

We'll also follow Vienna through both World Wars: the empire's collapse in 1918, wartime bombing damage still visible on grand buildings, and the Nazi era's impact on the city's Jews. At Judenplatz, we pause at the Holocaust Memorial, a quiet tribute to Austria's Jewish victims of the Shoah.

Throughout, we uncover forgotten stories behind history's most consequential events.

Private and Luxury Private Sightseeing Tours Cultural Tours Historical Tours Walking Tours Short term availability Weather Dependent - Low Agent Low Quality Product

At a glance

Duration: 2–3 hours
Confirmation: Confirmed within 48 hours
Ticket: Mobile or paper ticket accepted
Group: Your group only
People per booking: 1–15
Guide: Norwegian, English
Operated by: Jan Kepinski

What is included

Included

Included: Written recommendations for restaurants, bars, cafés, shops, districts, and more
Included: Access to a digital library of information and pictures to enhance your experience of Vienna.

Not included

Not included: Tea and coffee: You will get the possibilty to purchase a typical Viennese coffee, you can bring with you on our tour.

Itinerary

Historic Center of Vienna

10 min

The UNESCO historical city center of Vienna is where all adventures in Vienna begins. Over the next 2 hours we explore and uncover the biggest highlights Vienna's old town has to offer.
Memorial Against War & Fascism

Passing by

This monument is the city's first memorial to the darkest moment in Vienna's recent history, fascism and war. It is made out of 4 parts, each with its own special reference to this terrible period.

For the "Hitler's Vienna tour by Jan", this monument makes an insightful introduction to the tour by reminding us of the ultimate result and consequences of the story this tour studies.
The Hofburg

20 min

The Hofburg was the principal residence of the Habsburg monarchy in Vienna. The tour will explore a part of this massive imperial complex. Its newest additions, like the Burggarten, Neue Burg, Heldenplatz, were constructed not long before Adolf Hitler arrived in Vienna.

Our tour through The Hofburg is an immersive experience that sets the stage for learning about the imperial world that Hitler first met at age 18 in 1907.
Akademie der bildenden Kunste

10 min

The Academy of Arts is where Adolf Hitler applied to become a student. He failed the entrance exam. Twice. He spent the next 4 years living on the streets, in shelters and men's hostels, painting watercolour postcards for tourists.

Hitler's early life is full of adversities and provides insight to the ways he dealt with them and how they shaped him.
Ringstrasse

10 min

The Ringstrasse boulevard, and what it represents, is the most significant transformation of Vienna in recent times. The old medieval walls, bastions and glacis were replaced with a 4,5 km long boulevard.

The space along the Ringstrasse was populated by dozens of Vienna's most important public institutions, all represented by monumental palaces in all historical styles. Hundreds of smaller, but equally magnificent, palaces, private residences, offices, hotels, banks and covered the space between the giants.

Hitler loved it.
Heldenplatz

20 min

Heroes' square is the grandest space in the Hofburg palace. A gathering spot, parade ground, and forum. It was here, on the terrace of the Neue Burg, overlooking a fully packed square, that Adolf Hitler, on the 13th of March, declared the "Anschluss, the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany.

Our tour and story end on this square but not before exploring the visible traces and relics of fascistic influence on the square and cityscape of Vienna.
Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial

15 min

At Judenplatz, we step into the heart of Vienna's medieval Jewish community — and into one of the city's most powerful sites of memory. You'll see the excavated remains of the 13th-century synagogue, destroyed in the Vienna Gesera, the anti-Jewish pogrom of 1420–21, now preserved beneath the square as part of the Museum Judenplatz. Standing above them is the Holocaust Memorial by artist Rachel Whiteread: a windowless concrete cube shaped like an inverted library, its base inscribed with the names of the camps where Austrian Jews were murdered.

Meeting point and pickup

You can be picked up from your accommodation or go straight to the meeting point.

Meeting point

The starting point of the Vienna highlights tour is on the square next to the Opera. More precisely next to the stairs to the underground passage to the subway station Karlsplatz.

End point

The tour ends on the grand Heroes' square of the Imperial Palace The Hofburg.

Easy access to the old town, museums and attractions, and public transportation.

Pickup points

Boutique Hotel Nossek
Buxbaum Boutique Hotel
Pension Neuer Markt
Hotel Vienna
Pension Aclon
Steigenberger Hotel Herrenhof
Lindner Vienna Am Belvedere, Part Of Jdv By Hyatt
Arthotel ANA Adlon
Austria Trend Hotel Savoyen Vienna
Pension City
Radisson Blu Style Hotel, Vienna
Elaya city center

and 176 more pickup points

Cancellation

Free cancellation

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

If you cancel	You get back
At least one day before	100%
Less than a day before	0%

The operator may cancel if the weather does not allow it; you then get another date or your money back.
The operator may cancel if too few people book; you then get another date or your money back.