Prater

Six square kilometres of public park in Leopoldstadt, first documented in 1403 and used as an imperial hunting ground from the sixteenth century, Maximilian II enlarged it with enclosures and lodges, and access stayed restricted to nobles and imperial officials for generations. The straight 4.4-kilometre Hauptallee was cut through the forest in 1538 to connect the Palais Augarten with the hunting grounds. Joseph II opened the whole thing to the public in 1766; coffee houses and inns followed, then swings, carousels and bowling alleys, and out of those grew the Wurstelprater.