Anker Clock
Anker Clock
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The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Inner City
In Vienna's best-known district, pedestrian boulevards Kärntner Strasse and Graben connect you with landmarks such as the Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera), Vienna’s iconic Stephansdom (St. Stephen’s Cathedral) and the vast compound of Hofburg, the Habsburgs’ former Imperial Palace. Peek down side streets such as Annagasse and Weihburggasse, and Graben’s Seilergasse and Habsburggasse, to get a feel for the centre. The Imperial Apartments and the refreshingly demystifying Sissi Museum are must-dos at Hofburg. Spacious squares such as Am Hof and Freyung often host beautiful seasonal and antiques markets.
How to get there
- Schwedenplatz • 5 min walk
- Stephansplatz • 5 min walk
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4,672 within 5 kms
Attractions
1,038 within 10 kms
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.0
712 reviews
Excellent
213
Very good
283
Average
182
Poor
27
Terrible
7
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Cymrocymraeg
Caernarfon, North Wales140 contributions
Jan 2020
The clock is supposed to ring out a different fanfare every hour, on the hour. There is even a plaque underneath, stating which piece of music is played at certain hours of the day. We were there at just before 14:00, on Monday, 13th Jan, 2020...and, along with many other tourists, waited with baited breath!!! There were 2 'bongs', and that was that!!...Great looking clock, but it didn't work!!
Written 28 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
CycleDude86
Winston Salem, NC69 contributions
May 2023 • Couples
We planned on seeing this and just happened to be nearby at high noon so swung by. A small investment of time for a free attraction was worth it to see the unique performance of this clock. It is set high up, much like the Astrological Clock in Prague so even in a crowd many get a good view for photographs and videos.
Written 13 May 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Philmex1
Southampton, UK1,937 contributions
Aug 2022
I thought the Anker Uhr was a really old clock, but it dates back to the 1910s and was originally built to promote an insurance company!
The Anker Uhr is worth visiting at any time of the day, but the best time is just before midday. At 12pm, you get to see all the figures of the clock parade past with organ music played in the background. It's absolutely wonderful, but watch out if you want to film the whole 'performance' - it takes about 12 minutes and your arms will ache from holding your camera! Look out for Haydn at the end with a piece composed by him from his 'Creation' oratorio.
A unique attraction in Vienna - highly recommended.
The Anker Uhr is worth visiting at any time of the day, but the best time is just before midday. At 12pm, you get to see all the figures of the clock parade past with organ music played in the background. It's absolutely wonderful, but watch out if you want to film the whole 'performance' - it takes about 12 minutes and your arms will ache from holding your camera! Look out for Haydn at the end with a piece composed by him from his 'Creation' oratorio.
A unique attraction in Vienna - highly recommended.
Written 31 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sarah C
Ashtead, UK1,294 contributions
Aug 2023
Turn up at midday and see the full gamut of the clock and its figures "parading" in rotation. The Roman numerals can be confusing, as they didn't relate to real time, and in fact when we the clock was about 6 minutes slow. It's quite crowded on the street corner and many tourists just stand in the middle of the road, we saw some near misses with local traffic!
If you are in the area it's worth stopping by, but not something to centre your day around
If you are in the area it's worth stopping by, but not something to centre your day around
Written 16 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alessandro S
Bologna, Italy4,674 contributions
Jun 2024 • Family
On the facade of the historic insurance building is located this very original clock that at every hour strikes and appears a character in traditional period costume. At 12 o'clock all the characters come out with classical background music. To see.
Automatically translated
Written 27 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
lorenzoravida
Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto, Italy158 contributions
Aug 2024 • Family
Art Nouveau clock that every day, at 12, starts the parade of all the figures with related music of the time in the background. During the Christmas period every day at 17 Christmas carols. In short, for us Messinans a bit like the bell tower in Messina, indeed between the two I prefer the one in my area.
Automatically translated
Written 24 August 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Siobhan L
Belton, TX977 contributions
Dec 2023 • Solo
The clock is a very ornate and decorative clock dating back to 1913. Once a day around noon- the clock runs 7-10 minutes slow btw- it activates and plays music while prominent figures from Austrian history rotate by. They include Charlemagne, Maria Teresia, and Joseph Haydn. It takes almost 15 minutes for it to complete the cycle but it is unique to see and is very close to the plague column.
Written 19 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
macedonboy
Glasgow, UK1,86,808 contributions
Oct 2019
The Anker Clock is a decorative clock in Hoher Markt of Vienna. It’s a very Austrian Secessionist design in the mold of Gustav Klimt, even if not, then it’s a pretty clock to look at. As clocks go, it has a straightforward way of presenting the time by simply reading the hours and quarters which are spotted by a moving rod.
There’s a special mechanical presentation at 12pm, but sadly I missed it. This clock is worth a look if in the Hoher Markt area as there are also several monuments, museums and other attractions close by.
There’s a special mechanical presentation at 12pm, but sadly I missed it. This clock is worth a look if in the Hoher Markt area as there are also several monuments, museums and other attractions close by.
Written 28 October 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
CarolDM1900
Montpelier, VT3,343 contributions
Sept 2014 • Couples
Hotels, cruise ships and travel guides often send Vienna visitors to the Anker clock at noon for the once-daily procession of all 12 figures across the clock face. This is a great experience if you take the time to make the most of it. I hope you will.
A lot of people "see" the clock only through the small screen of a digital camera or iPhone. They are so busy tweeting to friends about what they've seen that they miss the whole point. They don't really see it at all, and after a minute or two, deeply bored, they're ready to move on, wondering what the fuss was all about.
This is a great clock. Actually, it's a gigantic music box that happens also to tell the time. Girls, think back to the classic pink musical jewelry box from your teen years, the one with the dancing ballerina who came out of one door and twirled her way to another, to the tune of something like "Lara's Theme."
The Anker clock is like that, only better. It's got a dozen figures, from Marcus Aurelius (1) and Charlemagne (2) to Empress Maria Theresa and her consort (11) and composer Josef Hayden (12). Rendered in colored copper in their distinctive dress and personalities, they move to brief yet distinctive musical airs: Maria Theresa to a Mozart minuet and Hayden to a short piece from his own masterwork, The Creation. You might not recognize many other figures, but each one is different and worthy of your attention, and it is not too hard to find an online guide that pairs the people and the music by the hour. One that will do the job is at:
http://hotel-vienna.travel/es/blog/anker-clock-ankeruhr
But the most important thing is just to LOOK. Up there at the top of the clock, on the left, there is a baby grasping for a butterfly. To the right, there is a skeleton holding an hourglass. Both figures rest on bases that resemble rising waves, among which other figures seem to await their own moments of life or death.
This clock rests on a walkway that joins two buildings of the old Anker Insurance Company. It is "about" the transience of life: how quickly time moves all of us from birth to death. Oh, and, by the way, you'd better buy life insurance!
There are other interesting details to see. The walkway rests on four sculpted supports. They are paired. Closest to Hoher Markt you will see Adam and Eve across from each other, she with a golden apple to her lips, he looking rather wan and compliant. On the far side, you will find representations of evil in monstrous form and on the other side goodness in human form. The underside of the bridge itself is adorned with a beautiful relief showing mythical figures in art nouveau style. So when the chiming and the parade are over, and the crowds have dispersed satisfied or not, take the time to walk under the bridge and look up.
When Franz von Matsch designed the Anker clock over 100 years ago, he gave every element some symbolic, cultural, religious or philosophical meaning. So it's not just a clock or a music box, but a puzzle for us to decipher. It's fun, interesting, and worth 15 minutes of looking, listening and thinking about life…and maybe insurance too!
A lot of people "see" the clock only through the small screen of a digital camera or iPhone. They are so busy tweeting to friends about what they've seen that they miss the whole point. They don't really see it at all, and after a minute or two, deeply bored, they're ready to move on, wondering what the fuss was all about.
This is a great clock. Actually, it's a gigantic music box that happens also to tell the time. Girls, think back to the classic pink musical jewelry box from your teen years, the one with the dancing ballerina who came out of one door and twirled her way to another, to the tune of something like "Lara's Theme."
The Anker clock is like that, only better. It's got a dozen figures, from Marcus Aurelius (1) and Charlemagne (2) to Empress Maria Theresa and her consort (11) and composer Josef Hayden (12). Rendered in colored copper in their distinctive dress and personalities, they move to brief yet distinctive musical airs: Maria Theresa to a Mozart minuet and Hayden to a short piece from his own masterwork, The Creation. You might not recognize many other figures, but each one is different and worthy of your attention, and it is not too hard to find an online guide that pairs the people and the music by the hour. One that will do the job is at:
http://hotel-vienna.travel/es/blog/anker-clock-ankeruhr
But the most important thing is just to LOOK. Up there at the top of the clock, on the left, there is a baby grasping for a butterfly. To the right, there is a skeleton holding an hourglass. Both figures rest on bases that resemble rising waves, among which other figures seem to await their own moments of life or death.
This clock rests on a walkway that joins two buildings of the old Anker Insurance Company. It is "about" the transience of life: how quickly time moves all of us from birth to death. Oh, and, by the way, you'd better buy life insurance!
There are other interesting details to see. The walkway rests on four sculpted supports. They are paired. Closest to Hoher Markt you will see Adam and Eve across from each other, she with a golden apple to her lips, he looking rather wan and compliant. On the far side, you will find representations of evil in monstrous form and on the other side goodness in human form. The underside of the bridge itself is adorned with a beautiful relief showing mythical figures in art nouveau style. So when the chiming and the parade are over, and the crowds have dispersed satisfied or not, take the time to walk under the bridge and look up.
When Franz von Matsch designed the Anker clock over 100 years ago, he gave every element some symbolic, cultural, religious or philosophical meaning. So it's not just a clock or a music box, but a puzzle for us to decipher. It's fun, interesting, and worth 15 minutes of looking, listening and thinking about life…and maybe insurance too!
Written 30 September 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Donella M
Vienna, Austria138 contributions
Jun 2013 • Friends
Came upon this attraction by mistake, but at exactly the right time, while waiting for a nearby restaurant to open for lunch. We arrived to the restaurant at 11:45 am and since it didn't open until noon, we did some window shopping, then turned to see a large crowd forming at the end of the block. Walking down to see what was going on, we found this fantastic creation. We didn't have a long wait to see it in action, which was good for us. I'm not sure we would have really thought much of it had we not stumbled upon it when we did. It's slow moving, and kids probably won't be enthralled enough to "wait for it."
If you arrive early, the area near the clock has lots of interesting shops, restaurants, and cafes. There is also a large, fairly new Merkur, a grocery that in this location is high-end. There is also a very long-lived Wurstelstand just down the street (on the Wipplingerstrasse) that has the best kasekrainer in Vienna.
If you arrive early, the area near the clock has lots of interesting shops, restaurants, and cafes. There is also a large, fairly new Merkur, a grocery that in this location is high-end. There is also a very long-lived Wurstelstand just down the street (on the Wipplingerstrasse) that has the best kasekrainer in Vienna.
Written 5 May 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi fellow travellers!
Me and my partner will be visiting Vienna next week and have been advised to take a look at the Anker clock!
Is there a specific time that is best to see the clock and the display it does on the hour?
Written 10 March 2024
It goes off at noon daily. Crowds start to form about 30 minutes ahead. Great viewing literally is just across the street however buses and large trucks would block this view if there's heavy traffic so you might want to be on the curb closest to the clock. It runs a bit slow btw and takes almost 10 minutes to complete it's cycle.
Written 11 March 2024
die ankeruhr kann tag und nacht betrachtet werden
Written 1 January 2019
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