Linz in 3 days

Tabakfabrik Linz (Peter-Behrens-Platz 7; the former Austria Tabak tobacco factory (built 1929–1935 by architect Peter Behrens (1868–1940) — the founder of modern industrial architecture in German-speaking Europe (his most important earlier work: the AEG Turbine Factory in Berlin (1909) — the first building in Germany to use structural steel and glass as the primary materials, initiating the modernist industrial architecture tradition)); the Linz Tabakfabrik (Behrens's last major commission: a 10-hectare campus of factory buildings in the Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) style — the German interwar modernism that rejected ornament and emphasized industrial function); the factory was privatized and closed in 2009; the City of Linz purchased the campus in 2011 and has been converting it into a creative industry campus (coworking spaces, studios, a music venue (the Tabakfabrik is the second concert venue for the Ars Electronica Festival), a bar and restaurant (the Café Mondial), and public art installations)). Free to visit the campus.

Landesmuseum Schlossmuseum Linz (Tummelplatz 10 — the Linz Castle (the Schloßberg — the hilltop above the Danube where a castle has stood since the 8th century; the current building is a 16th-century Renaissance reconstruction by Emperor Frederick III and Emperor Maximilian I (the round tower at the south corner is the only surviving element of the original medieval castle; the rest burned in 1800 and was rebuilt as the current museum building in 1952)): the Schlossmuseum (the museum of Upper Austrian history, art, and natural history): the most important exhibition: the 'Überblicke' (Overviews — the permanent exhibition presenting Upper Austrian history from the Iron Age to the 20th century in a deliberately critical mode (the WWII and Nazi period is presented with particular completeness, including the Linz-specific history of the KZ-Mauthausen (the Mauthausen concentration camp 20km east of Linz where 90,000 prisoners were murdered 1938–1945 — the highest death toll of any concentration camp in the German Reich proper (not the occupied east)). Adults €9.

Brucknerhaus Linz (Untere Donaulände 7 — the concert hall on the Danube waterfront; designed by Caius Amadeus Prühl (the Finnish architect, 1974); the primary concert venue of Linz and the home of the Linz Philharmonic (Bruckner Orchester Linz)): Anton Bruckner (the reason for the concert hall's name: Anton Bruckner (1824–1896) — the Austrian composer who spent his formative years in Upper Austria (born in Ansfelden, 15km south of Linz; trained as an organist at St. Florian monastery; served as the court organist of the Linz Cathedral (1856–1868) before moving to Vienna); Bruckner's 9 symphonies (the most architecturally vast orchestral works of the Romantic era; Symphony No. 4 in E-flat (the 'Romantic') (1874) and Symphony No. 7 in E major (1883) are the most performed; the symphonies are notable for their extreme length (45–90 minutes), their organ-like orchestral textures (Bruckner was fundamentally an organist — his orchestral writing uses sustained chord masses that replicate the sustain capacity of a large organ), and their structural scale (the Bruckner symphony is the largest continuous musical structure in the 19th-century orchestral canon)). Concert tickets €15–50. The Brucknerhaus exterior can be seen free from the riverside path.

Nibelungenbrücke (the Nibelung Bridge — the central Danube bridge of Linz, connecting the Hauptplatz with the Ars Electronica Center and the north bank; rebuilt 1939–1945 by the Nazi administration (the Nazi-era bridge is named for the Nibelungenlied — the medieval German heroic epic; the choice of name reflects the Nazi project of associating Linz with the Germanic cultural heritage as Hitler planned his 'Führermuseum' city)); the bridge (240m; the most important crossing of the Danube in Linz; the bridge walkway gives the finest view of the Linz Danube waterfront: the Lentos glass box (south bank), the Ars Electronica Center (north bank), and the Pöstlingberg church (northwest) simultaneously visible from the bridge midpoint)). The Danube waterfront after 19:00 is the quietest and most atmospheric time (the tourist crowds have dispersed to restaurants; the evening light on the river is the warmest of the day). Free.

Stift St. Florian (St. Florian Monastery — 18km south of Linz (bus 310 from Linz Hauptbahnhof, 30 min, €3.80; or taxi €25); the most complete surviving Baroque monastery complex in Austria (built 1686–1751 by the architects Carlo Antonio Carlone and Jakob Prandtauer — the architects who between them created most of the significant Baroque religious architecture of the Austrian Danube region)); the monastery (a Augustinian Canons monastery (the Order of St. Augustine; not the same as the Augustinian friars; the Augustinian Canons live in a monastery and serve as parish priests of the local community as well as performing the monastic office)): the architectural highlights: (1) the Bibliothek (the Library — the most important room in the monastery: a long hall (80m) with a painted vault ceiling by Bartolomeo Altomonte (1744), gilded bookcases in the high baroque style, and 130,000 volumes of books and manuscripts (the collection includes the oldest surviving German-language Bible manuscript (the Wessobrunner Gebet — a prayer poem from 788 CE)); (2) the Bruckner organ (the organ in the abbey church on which Anton Bruckner learned and practised from 1845 to 1868 — the largest Baroque organ in Austria (the 7,386-pipe Krismann organ of 1770–1774)); (3) the Bruckner crypt (Bruckner's body (under glass) in the crypt beneath the organ). Adults €15 guided tour.

KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen (the Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial — 30km east of Linz on the Danube (bus 360 from Linz, 45 min, €4.20; or guided tour from Linz tourist office (€25 including transport)); the Mauthausen concentration camp was established by the SS in August 1938 (immediately after the Anschluss — the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany (March 13, 1938); Mauthausen was selected because of the granite quarry (the Wiener Graben quarry — the granite quarried here was used for the Nazi Linz and Vienna building projects; the prisoners were forced to carry granite blocks up the 186-step 'Staircase of Death' from the quarry floor)); total deaths: approximately 90,000–100,000 (the camp ran from 1938 to May 5, 1945 (liberation by US forces)); the victims: political prisoners (the majority: Spanish Republicans, Soviet POWs, Polish intellectuals, and resistance fighters), Jewish prisoners, and Roma. The memorial (the camp grounds are preserved with the original gates, barracks foundations, gas chambers, crematoria, and the Staircase of Death; the museum (opened 2013) tells the complete history). Free admission (donations welcome); guided tour recommended.

Return to Linz for a quiet final evening. The Mauthausen visit is emotionally draining — a simple, restorative dinner is appropriate: the Wirt am Bach (Waltherstraße — a traditional Austrian Gasthaus (a family-run inn serving simple, honest Austrian food): Tafelspitz (the Austrian Sunday boiled beef — the most important dish in Viennese and Upper Austrian cuisine: a lean cut of beef (the Tafelspitz — the 'table tip', the rump of the beef) boiled slowly for 3–4 hours in a vegetable broth (with carrot, celeriac, leek, parsley root, and peppercorns) until perfectly tender; served with the broth as a starter soup, then the beef sliced with a side of chive sauce (Schnittlauchsauce — crème fraîche, chives, a little mustard) and warm apple-horseradish (the grated raw apple mixed with grated fresh horseradish reduces the heat of the horseradish slightly while adding a fruity sharpness)); a final Linzer Torte slice and an Austrian Grüner Veltliner white wine from the Wachau (the wine region 80km upstream on the Danube). €20–35 dinner.

The Ars Electronica Center and the Lentos Museum at night (the Linz night skyline is defined by the two illuminated museum buildings on opposite banks of the Danube): the AEC Media Facade (the 40,000 LED pixel facade illuminating the north bank building; the nightly programme of the Media Facade (from approximately 21:00 onwards) shows: artworks by alumni of the Ars Electronica Festival, public announcements, and collaborations with international artists; the programme changes nightly); the Lentos colour cycle (the Lentos glass box cycles through its colour palette from the shore path; the best viewing position: the Nibelungenbrücke midpoint, where both buildings are simultaneously visible (the AEC blue-green on the north, the Lentos in warm amber on the south, with the black Danube between them)). The walk from the Hauptplatz south bank (past the Lentos, across the Nibelungenbrücke, to the AEC north bank and back) is 2km and one of the finest night walks in any Austrian city outside Vienna. Free.