Susanna Oberforcher - History walks

History walks - a good name for what Susanna Oberforcher has to offer. Curious about what is behind it, I asked Susanna to tell you more in the blog today, how her offer combines her love of storytelling and acting.

Your name

Susanna Oberforcher

Your profession or your activity or your offer

City guide - for people being in Vienna for the first time and those who live here www.geschichtespaziert.at Private tours on request.

Where were you born?

In the beautiful Dolomite town of Lienz in East Tyrol

What is unique about your job? What do you like about it? How did you come to this?

I like to tell stories about people who lived here in Vienna and who live here today.

History walks came into being in the year of the big break when suddenly no more tourists came to Vienna and the streets of the city center, which were just as busy, were empty. So I was suddenly confronted with the fact that I would no longer be able to do my job as a tourist guide, which I had enjoyed doing for many years, for an unforeseeable time. After a brief shock period, I thought about what has always given me particular joy in my work - and that was the verbal telling of our story and the people who appear in it. My love for acting benefited me when combining the two, and that’s how “History walks” came about.

Is there a typical day?

After the tourists are no longer in town, there is no longer a typical day. Before the pandemic, there were hardly any ordinary days because I had to do with other people every day. The course of a tour is standardized like it should not last longer than 2 hours because then the receptivity is exhausted. But the content that I tell depends heavily on the audience. For a German tour group, I choose different focuses than for a Brazilian - simply because the previous knowledge and thus the interests are quite different. However, some people are universally known in our histories, such as Mozart, Beethoven, Sisi, Marie Antoinette, and Adolf Hitler - and people very often ask about them.

Something that stuck in my memory

Almost all tourists take photos - I can only remember one couple who deliberately refrained from taking pictures because they said they would not live that long to look at what they photographed and a young Australian who went with a very open attitude and view, she very consciously moved through the city, and it turned out that she is a geomaniac, so she knows very well about places of power.

Three words that describe me

Curious, happy to sing, feminist

Susannas tipps for Vienna

Why do I like to live in Vienna?

Because Vienna is a great mix of many and diverse cultural events, it also offers me, who am very close to nature, a lot of nature, in the city itself and at the end of every street or underground station, plus the Old Danube and the Danube Island. I love this mixture!

You tip for Vienna

Stroll through the city, stop in a coffee house, or go to a terrace - Ritz, Grand Ferdinand, Lammée, etc. in the afternoon for a Heuriger and in the evening in a concert, theater, or opera performance. In bad weather - off to the museum, whether classic or modern Albertina, Leopold (recently with a dragonfly on the roof) or enjoy the tranquility of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. The list is almost endless. Kunstforum Wien with changing exhibitions, the Kunsthaus Wien built by Grand Master Hundertwasser is also beautiful, mostly with photo exhibitions. I haven’t mentioned the Belvedere and Belvedere21 yet and much more.

You favorite place in Vienna

The Mölkerbastei - you are primarily alone there, and with the Biedermeier houses, it seems a bit out of time; maybe Ludwig van comes around the corner.

You favorite restaurant in Vienna

Heuriger Maly, in Grinzing with real Viennese music, good wine and fine food