Inner City

One of the world’s great shopping avenues was pedestrianized in the 1970s, and, of late, the long, wide Kärtnerstrasse hosts a mix of global brand stores and some long-time merchants, such as the venerable Lobmeyr glassware shop and other boutiques whose vintage fifties neon signs still hang out front. Around a bend in this heart of the Inner City, the Graben section is dominated by the fabulous Baroque Pestsäule, a gilded column designed by the great Fischer von Erlach as tribute to the plague victims of 1679. Kohlmarkt street is home to high-end jewelers and other luxury boutiques, while the Dorotheum is a famous old auction house. In recent years, the Goldenes Quartier was developed as another high-end boutique stretch.