The inner Mariahilfer Straße is the largest shopping street in Vienna: Hundreds of shops line its length of 1.8 kilometers – from flagship stores to boutiques and supermarkets. For young and old, every style and all price ranges, there are the right offers on Mariahilfer Straße. Trend, art, luxury and everyday life alternate here – across all industries.
Hip restaurants, traditional coffeehouses and fast food chains provide young and old strollers and shoppers with food and drink. Numerous guest gardens and patios promise relaxed shopping breaks especially in summer.
The car-free core zone of the shopping street runs from the Vienna Westbahnhof to the Museumsqartier. The entire Mariahilfer Straße runs from the Inner City to Penzing. The locals often use the term mahu as an abbreviation for this street.
History of Mariahilfer Strasse
Already in Roman times a way existed in the area of the today’s street guidance. In 1914, when building a new house, a piece of a Roman road 11 meters wide was uncovered.
Originally, the road after the first rise, as a connection from Vienna to Linz, turned west. From this time, therefore, this road also had names such as “Kremser road” or later “Bayrische Landstraße”.In 1663, the name Poststraße was renamed.
As a result, the importance of this section of the city was increased and settled many restaurants. Hosts and coffeehouses joined in from 1859, because then it came to the completion of the Westbahnhof. It was only in 1897 that the street got its present name, because at that time it was named after the district or the former suburb of Mariahilf.
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