The man who
waltzed
the world
As Vienna marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Johann Strauss II,
we take to the streets and ballroom dancefloors of the city to explore the legacy of ‘The Waltz King’
Words Becki Enright
The first Vienna Philharmonic Ball was held in 1924 (Vienna Tourist Board/Paul Bauer)
Twenty-two days after millions of people worldwide had tuned in to watch the live New Year’s Day concert broadcast from Vienna, I found myself in the same gilded hall in which it was filmed. Standing on a golden balcony, beneath a ceiling bedecked in mural panels and crystal chandeliers, I watched pairs of young dancers performing their debutante procession to the music of Johann Strauss II. Half were dressed in long white gowns with sparkling coronets; the rest were in black tailcoats and white ties. The Vienna Philharmonic Ball in the Musikverein’s Golden Hall had officially begun.
Anyone visiting Vienna knows that the daily repertoire of classical music across the city’s theatres and concert halls offers plenty to appreciate. But on a ball night such as this – one of the capital’s most prestigious – I saw a living tribute to Vienna’s musical heritage unfold to the tunes of Strauss II’s opuses 234 Accelerations (1860) and 410 Voices of Spring (1882). Soon enough, the iconic proclamation “Alles Walzer!” (“Everyone waltz!”) echoed throughout the hall, inviting us all to join in.
For the Viennese, this is an annual social ritual embedded in the intangible cultural heritage of the Viennese waltz. To everyone else, and especially someone like myself, who has called this city home for a decade, it’s a rite of passage. This year, the Vienna ball season carried an even greater significance, with it also being the bicentenary of the birth of Johann Strauss II, the virtuoso Austrian composer behind the world-renowned An der schönen blauen Donau, otherwise known as The Blue Danube waltz. As the city geared up to celebrate one of its own, I prepared to explore his legacy across the capital’s historic venues and make my own debut on the dancefloor.
Hofburg Palace hosts many balls throughout the season honouring different occupations, from hunters and lawyers to confectioners, and while those who wish to attend aren’t always required to be members of those professions, these balls often have their own quirks – for example, the Hunter’s Ball (Jägerball) requires attendees to wear traditional Alpine-themed attire or they don’t get in (Shutterstock)
The six-step legacy
Preparing for a Viennese ball is as much about selecting a dazzling gown from the chromatic rails of a time-honoured dress shop such as Flossmann as it is about perfecting the steps of the waltz. While most people here learn these moves from a young age in the 30 or so dance schools scattering the city, my one-hour introductory lesson at Elmayer, the distinguished third-generation ballroom dancing school, was my chance to catch up.
Elmayer is one of the city’s oldest and most respected institutions. It has been running since 1919, and it is now helmed by Herr Thomas Schäfer-Elmayer, who often trains the young ladies and gentlemen taking part in the Vienna Philharmonic Ball debutante procession.
The waltz, a dance composed of just six synchronised steps in three-quarter time, requires the man to lead, with the woman following in perfect harmony to create graceful turns. With practice, a skilled dancer can pick up the pace, switching a right revolve for faster, more complex and dizzying left turns. While I could barely master an elegant right spin, director Bernd Erblich’s routines gave me enough confidence to attempt a dancefloor twirl with a ‘taxi dancer’ or two – those hired to accompany attendees looking for a dance partner.
The poise and propriety of the waltz is a new etiquette lesson for many, though it was once regarded as a scandalous dance by the aristocratic echelons of 18th-century society because of its close physical contact. Fast forward a century, however, and its popularity had soared.
During the Viennese Biedermeier period (1815–1848), the waltz became a tonic during the social upheaval that followed the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Nobles were regaled at Habsburg Court balls while the new order of Europe was being defined during the Congress of Vienna in 1814/15. Then the bourgeoisie, in a new expression of social freedom, began to host private dance events of their own.
It was around this time that the name Strauss first appeared on the scene. While Strauss II is most associated with the Viennese waltz of the 19th century, his father, Johann Strauss I, first popularised the genre with his lively compositions, which were considered disruptive at the time. It earned him the moniker the ‘Father of the Waltz’.
An intense rivalry later developed between father and son but it was no barrier to Johann Jr achieving stardom.
Strauss II debuted his first waltz with his orchestra in Vienna in 1844 to critical acclaim before touring the world. At the Paris 1867 World Fair, The Blue Danube waltz was presented to an international audience, selling over 1 million copies of sheet music. But it’s in Vienna where you’ll still find the fingerprints of this celebrated composer across the city.
Guests don’t just turn up to a Viennese ball and take to the dancefloor – you need to learn the basics of the waltz first (Vienna Tourist Board/Paul Bauer)
Setting the stage
Before stepping into the nostalgic bubble of the city’s ball season, I paid my own homage to Johan Strauss II by retracing his legacy on a walk through the Austrian capital.
It’s a common local pastime here to stroll through Schloss Schönbrunn’s regal-looking parkland, but this time I ventured to the Parkhotel Schönbrunn on its outer fringe. This former royal guesthouse, built to host the esteemed visitors of Emperor Franz Joseph, stands on the site of the old Casino Dommayer, which was the venue for Strauss II’s waltz debut. From its elegant bar, which overlooks the hedgerows of the palace, I could imagine the grand receptions of the well-heeled that had taken place here.
In the city’s 2nd district, I found myself in an apartment on Praterstrasse, the avenue stretching towards the city’s famed Wurstelprater fairground. It was here, in 1867, that Strauss composed the iconic Blue Danube Waltz melody, though certainly not with the neon-lit chaos of an amusement park in the background. Instead, in this residence turned commemorative museum, he would have played his violin, baby grand piano and harmonium (all on display) in the environs of this lush park next to the banks of the Danube River.
The score’s first orchestral performance was played in what is now the Volksgarten club, an altogether more modern-day dancefloor on one of the lawns of the Hofburg Imperial Palace. Its beats are a far cry from the waltzes and polkas of Strauss’ era. From my own past visits, I felt sure the composer – the pop star of his day – would have revelled in these newer forms of expression.
“Some 400-plus balls take place in Vienna during the annual
season”
Walking past Vienna’s historic buildings, I found it easy to visualise these elegant time capsules as the opulent venues for the 400-plus balls that take place in the capital during the annual ball season. During this time, the Vienna State Opera transforms into one of the world’s largest ballrooms for the Opera Ball, the Parkhotel Schönbrunn’s Imperial Ballroom becomes the elegant setting for the LGBTQ+ Rainbow Ball, and the Rathaus (City Hall) turns into the setting for the Refugees Ball. There are balls to celebrate every profession, from lawyers to doctors; chimney sweepers to gardeners. The Sweatpants Ball in Vienna’s historically working-class district of Floridsdorf was a particularly interesting new addition this year, representing the ever-evolving nature of the season.
However, the sounds of Strauss echo far beyond the ball season’s grand heights in January and February. Further north, in the residential 19th district, I stood in the original Casino Zögernitz – the only surviving venue in which all four Strauss musicians (including the younger brothers Josef and Eduard) performed in the 19th century. It has been attentively restored into a legacy performance hall as part of the House of Strauss Museum, which is packed with rooms of audio-visual exhibits. I timed my visit to end with one of the weekly evening orchestral performances, a chance to hear Strauss II’s compositions revived in the heritage hall, with multimedia projections bringing musical history to life.
Strauss II might be long gone but his music is everywhere this year. In mid-June, I and thousands of others gathered on the lawns of Schönbrunn Palace to listen to his works being played in the open air at the Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert. This is part of the city’s 200th anniversary of Johann Strauss II’s birth, which is being celebrated across stage performances, audio-visual shows, modern interpretations and revival concerts. On the banks of the river, you can even join a Strauss tribute rave at the Danube Island Festival.
My meander beside the water had me curious to learn more about the composer’s most famous work: The Blue Danube waltz.
Becki at the Vienna Philharmonic Opera Ball (Vienna Tourist Board/Paul Bauer)
The orchestra played throughout the evening at the Vienna Philharmonic Ball (Vienna Tourist Board/Paul Bauer)
Not so blue after all
It wasn’t until some hours into the ball that the romantic score of The Blue Danube began, the floor whirling with people in a picture of the city’s timeless ballroom tradition – a melody so embedded in the local consciousness, it was enough to stir even the most hesitant to take to the floor.
This piece is woven into the Viennese DNA. It has become the soundtrack to social events such as New Year, played after the St Stephen’s Cathedral Pummerin Bell rings and people waltz in the streets. It serenades passengers on Austrian Airlines flights, and you’ll even hear it at impromptu moments in hotels, shops and restaurants.
Before I attended the ball, I had spoken to Eduard Strauss, great-grandnephew of Johann Strauss II and founder of the Vienna Institute for Strauss Research. According to him, The Blue Danube was not intended to be performed in the way we hear it today.
“You must understand the story of a piece of music to play it correctly,” he told me, emphasising how understanding a composer’s life often changes how we interpret their work.
Its first composition in 1867 was a satirical choral piece about post-war Vienna’s adversity: sarcastic stories of characters challenging sadness and suffering through the joviality of the Carnival. Even its title, An der schönen blauen Donau (On the Beautiful Blue Danube), was ironic; the Danube was neither beautiful at the time nor blue. Eduard demonstrated the upbeat, bouncing notes compared with the slow sentimentalism of the later orchestral adaptation, now considered Vienna’s unofficial anthem.
I later reimagined the arrangement when it played at the ball, remembering Eduard’s remark about the original lyrics highlighting how “dancing is a medium against a bad situation in life”. Ball season in Vienna occurs during the jubilant time of Carnival, which runs from 11 November to the start of Easter. It is, most fittingly, a period that is all about the celebration of life.
I felt this cheerful shift more so during the lively ‘square’ dances of the quadrille at midnight and 2am. The taxi dancer took my arm and led me onto the floor for the quadrille’s sequence, comprised of six sections and repeated with an increase in tempo. The music, the Fledermaus Quadrille by Strauss II, was more energetic and the crowd were more exuberant, often stumbling into one another and laughing. I, too, took a spontaneous mad gallop up and down the aisle.
Amid this moment of beautiful chaos, I came to the realisation that whether a ball is formal or pushes the boundaries of expression like it did back in the
Biedermeier period, it unites different people through the shared experience of music and dance. There is a ball celebration for everyone, but the waltz is always in season. As the final lines of The Blue Danube’s original lyrics go: “Use quickly what you have got today, because time flies and the rose of joy fades! So dance, just dance!”
The annual free Summer Night Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic at Schönbrunn Palace paid homage to Strauss II this year (Alamy)
How to celebrate the Year of Strauss
There are plenty of places to get acquainted with the musical genius of Strauss II. The Johann Strauss Memorial in Stadtpark is a good place to start. This golden statue of him playing the violin is an iconic site. Next, step inside the Johann Strauss Apartment on Praterstrasse 54, which is now an exhibition of personal objects and documents about his life and work (wienmuseum.at). For a more poignant encounter, The Waltz King’s gravestone lies in Vienna Central Cemetery in a denoted ‘grave of honour’.
Elsewhere, the immersive House of Strauss, set inside the restored Casino Zögernitz, is an audio-visual walk-through of the history of the entire Strauss dynasty (houseofstrauss.at).
The Johann Strauss Museum – New Dimensions opened this year and also explores the composer’s life through immersive exhibits (johannstraussmuseum.at).
Meanwhile, classical music fans can indulge in the House of Music, a four-floored montage of the Great Masters. The first floor is dedicated to the Vienna Philharmonic, and you can even cue the orchestra at the Virtual Conductor station (hdm.at).
Speaking of which, the Vienna Philharmonic concert programme in the Musikverein’s Golden Hall includes Strauss scores among a medley of works (musikverein.at), while the Vienna Hofburg Orchestra combines the music of Strauss and Mozart between May and October (hofburgorchester.at).
A list of the 2025 bicentenary Strauss events can be found at johannstrauss2025.at. The Vienna Tourist Board’s spotlight on Strauss is also a great place to start planning your musical journey (wien.info).
Strauss II composed The Blue Danube, his iconic waltz, in the house on Praterstrasse where he lived and worked between 1863 and the 1870s with his first wife Jetty, a former opera singer (Vinna Tourist Board/Paul Bauer)
The Coffeehouse Owners Ball in Hofburg Palace is one of the largest in the city, with space for some 6,000 guests (Vienna Tourist Board/Paul Bauer)
Need to know
When to go
Events celebrating the life of Strauss II continue throughout the year in Vienna. The annual ball season takes place from 11 November and typically ends around Ash Wednesday.
Getting there & around
London, Manchester and Edinburgh airports all offer direct flights to Vienna from £47 return. Flight time is from 2 to 2.5 hours. Vienna’s public transport (metro, trams, buses) links all corners of the city, though the historic centre is easy to explore on foot.
Ball tickets
Tickets are bookable via the ball or association websites. Prestigious events such as The Opera Ball (wiener-staatsoper.at) and The Vienna Philharmonic Ball (wienerphilharmoniker.at) can sell out six months in advance.
Where to stay
Book a hotel near the venue. Many offer a ball package that includes drinks and dinner. The author stayed at the Hotel Imperial (marriott.com), next to the Musikverein venue, where a pre-ball champagne reception was followed by a four-course meal. Hotel Sacher (sacher.com), Grand Hotel Wien (ihg.com) and Almanac Palais Vienna (almanachotels.com) all offer similar packages.
Ball shopping
There are strict ball dress codes. Women wear full-length gowns and men wear tailcoats or tuxedos. You can rent attire from Flossmann (flossmann.at). Be sure to book an appointment.
The trip
The author’s trip was supported by the Vienna Tourist Board.
To take part in the debutante procession, applicants must be at least 18 and no more than 25 (ladies) or 28 (gentlemen) years old on the day of the Opera Ball, with successful applicants invited to audition or (if coming from abroad) send a video of their dancing abilities in order to win a place (Vienna Tourist Board/Paul Bauer)
