Prater, the amusement park of Vienna

by Victor Grigore, Webphoto.ro

This part of Vienna has been a place for relaxation and entertainment for Austrians since 1766, when emperor Joseph II opened his hunting ground to the public. It evolved with the centuries from only a meadow with coffee shops to a fair with carousel, roller coaster, people dressed in fairytale characters, carriages and everything else we associate with a theme park.

But time did not always play on Prater’s side, so with the advent of American amusement parks created by Disney, with their spectacular display of various distractions, the park of Vienna remained a modest one for today’s standards. Nevertheless, it attracts a lot of visitors especially for its iconic big wheel, that can be seen from many parts of the city and became a symbol of Vienna.

Among other new attractions are: the Danube jump, where passengers plunge into a splashing water, a shaky Discovery wheel, the sensations offered by the Ejecting Seat, meeting the lookalikes from Madame Tussauds and other hundreds of toys for children and their parents.