Our audio walk will be focusing on the Hofburg district and its various outbuildings. When we say that the Hofburg was the principal residence of the Hapsburgs until 1918, this serves to highlight both the “Imperial” character of this area and its long history. As the showcase of Austrian power we can well imagine that nothing that was built here over the centuries was left to chance. We’ll see that conformism and anti-conformism are in fact two sides of the same coin. Our walk commences on Graben beside the Plague Column. We’ll then head off down Kohlmarkt until we reach Michaelerplatz, dominated by both the monumental entrance to the Hofburg and the Looshaus. After having studied the architecture of the Hofburg, we’ll continue to Heldenplatz, or Heroes’ Square. Finally, we’ll make our way towards the National Library and then the Vienna Opera House where our walk ends.