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09. 02. 10. - 16:00

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09. 02. 10. - 16:00

A piece of heaven for the ice skaters

For anybody who likes ice skating and fancies something a bit different than the regular rink or the crowded location at the front of the Vienna City Hall might want to consider a visit to Engelmann.

For those who don't know of this Vienna institution it is the world's oldest artificial outdoor ice skating rink and at the end of last year celebrated its one hundredth anniversary.

There are currently some 100,000 visitors to the ice skating rink every season -- and what is really unusual is that it is located on the roof of the supermarket in Vienna’s seventeenth district at Syringgasse 6-14.

Although it had its heyday in the post-war period it is still popular and has many special events including a romantic evening for couples where only one pays and also disco nights.

It attracts old and young and skater Hans Härtel (65) said: "After the war the people often queued for several blocks. Those in the very rear often left disappointed.

"In earlier times there was a rink in summer as well – and a boxing arena, furthermore a pool with a diving platform."

Härtel has been doing his rounds on the rink three to four times per week for sixty years.

He said: "the only thing that has really changed is that there was a brief break when they decided to make the whole building one story higher so the ice rink was made higher as well - but then the surrounding buildings got higher as well so that you didn't really changed that much."

The Second World War also interrupted things when a bomb landed in the middle of the rink - something that few remember ever one of those is regular visitor Helene Riesner, 86.

She said: "I was a real fan in my youth but then gave up when I moved to Munich, but when I moved back to Vienna I rediscovered Engelmann's and I have been a faithful fan ever since."

The 100,000 visitors a season amounts to about 700 visitors a day which means there's always plenty of room on the ice.

For those not so keen about taking to the ice -- the district museum Hernals (Hernalser Hauptstraße 72-74, phone: +43 1 403 43 38) provides more information about the last 100 years of Engelmann’s. An exhibition organised by the management at the ice rink about the venue will be on display there until 5 March.

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