Excursions and post-congress tours

Excursions on Wednesday, 12 September 2012

On Wednesday we are arranging some exciting outings to venues in Vienna as well as to the Abbey of Klosterneuburg, just outside Vienna.

Wednesday morning tours: “Backstage tours” in Vienna

These “Backstage tours” in Vienna deal exclusively with conservation matters reflecting the topic of the congress and are offered to a professional audience. The tours will visit special venues, exhibitions, studios, laboratories, collections and storage sites. These tours are led by conservation experts.
For some venues the tours are restricted to a maximum of 15 people.
The programme of Backstage tours starts at 9 am and end at 12 noon. Each tour will take 60 – 90 minutes maximum.
Meeting points for each tour can be reached by public transport. The tours within Vienna will be on foot.
Participants have to register their interest together with the congress registration by clicking here: Backstage tours 2012, but selection of a specific tour will be done on the first day of the congress by signing on a tour list.

“Backstage Tour” venues

The Backstage tours will highlight Otto Wagner, Gustav Klimt, and will visit sites and collections including Kirche am Steinhof, the Postsparkasse, the Secession house, the Albertina, the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, the Austrian National Library, as well as rarely-given opportunities to visit the Josephinum Vienna, the Red Salon in the Imperial Apartments, the Flak Tower at Arenbergpark, the Science Museum Vienna Depot in Floridsdorf, and the Vienna Jewish Cemetery in Währing.
All the Backstage tours in Vienna on Wednesday morning are free of charge.

Wednesday afternoon tours: Excursion to the Abbey of Klosterneuburg

The afternoon tours will be at the Abbey of Klosterneuburg, a site with much in the way of heritage. Klosterneuburg, founded in the 12th century, is still a functioning monastery, but it also contains a museum, a winery, an internationally-significant art gallery, the Romanesque abbey church, the Gothic cloister with its Chapel of St. Leopold, the world-famous Verdun Altar with its 51 magnificent enamel plaques, and the magnificent Imperial Apartments of Charles VI. The tours will highlight the many aspects of this important site, and will finish in time to allow attendance at the IIC Round Table event, held at the Abbey concurrently with this Congress.
All tours at Klosterneuburg will be led by professional staff and include special lectures given by those who were involved in the conservation of important objects in the abbey’s collection.
The afternoon tour schedule will start with a coach transfer from Vienna city centre at 2.00 pm, to arrive at 2.30 at Klosterneuburg. After a short welcome, guided tours will start at 3 pm and end at 4.30 pm. Refreshments are planned after the tours finish. At 5.00 pm the Round Table event will take place in the monastery. Following the Round table there will be a reception; at the end of this coaches will bring participants back to Vienna, with an estimated arrival time in Vienna of approx. 8.30 pm.
Participants will have to register their interest and book one of the afternoon tours when first booking their congress place on the IIC web-site. Participants can select from following tours in Klosterneuburg:

Tour A – the ‘Treasury and Modern’ tour

This tour will highlight the abbey’s Treasury, first opened to the public in May 2011, as well as the very modern and contemporary elements of the museum’s collection. This tour will also look at the Austrian Arch-Ducal Coronet, the "Veil Monstrance", St. Leopold’s Vestments and much in the way of goldsmiths’ work, ivory, and nine centuries of textiles.
Book here: Excursion registration 2012 - Tour A

Tour B – the ‘Sacred’ tour

This tour through the medieval monastery covers: the abbey church, with one of the most significant organs in Europe, the cloisters, the Leopold Chapel, the world famous Verdun Altar, the seven-armed Agnes Candelabra and more unique art treasures from the 14th and 15th centuries.
Book here: Excursion registration 2012 - Tour B

Tour C – the ‘Imperial and Museum’ tour

This tour provides insights into the Marble Hall, the baroque Imperial Apartments and Sala Terrena, and the abbey church. The tour also offers views of the most important objects of the abbey's collections: the Babenberg Family Tree, the Panels by Frueauf the Younger, the St. Mary Magdalene Altar from 1456, a collection of Renaissance bronzes, and early works of Egon Schiele.
Book here: Excursion registration 2012 - Tour C

Tour D – the ‘Wine Cellars and Building Conservation’ tour

Alternatively you can experience Austria's oldest winery: The tour leads through the Abbey’s Baroque cellar system, covering over levels to a depth of 36 metres. There will also be the opportunity to learn and discuss approaches to the reconstruction of the Abbey’s Baroque facade. The number of participants for this tour is limited to 20 persons.
Book here: Excursion registration 2012 - Tour D

Extra – the Essl Museum in Klosterneuburg

For those who are interested in Modern Art we offer an exclusive guided tour through the Essl Museum in Klosterneuburg, very close to the Abbey. The tour will lead you through the current “Alex Katz” exhibition with special emphasis on the congress topic “The Decorative”. The number of participants at the Essl Museum is limited to 20 persons.
Book here: Excursion registration 2012 - Extra
After the tour through the Essl Museum a coach will bring you back to the Abbey where you can attend the Round Table and the evening reception afterwards.
GENERAL INFORMATION ON ALL EXCURSIONS:

• You should register your interest in both the Wednesday morning and afternoon tours when you first register and pay for the Congress here on the IIC web-site; you may then select the particular morning tour in Vienna you wish to attend by signing a tour list when you register at the Congress on Monday morning, 10 September 2012.
• The guided morning ‘Backstage’ tours are free.
• The afternoon tours at Klosterneuburg are subject to a fee being charged; this fee covers the coach transfer, the entrance fee, guides and lectures, and refreshments. If there are insufficient numbers for any of the afternoon tours such tours may be cancelled and those who have booked on these tours will be offered an alternative (payment of the balance of a higher tour fee will be required) or a refund.
• Accompanying persons are welcome to join these events. Places for afternoon tours are available at the same cost as for the main applicant. Numbers are limited and attendance is on a first come, first served basis.
• Full details on all excursions will be given to you when you register in person at the start of the congress.

Post-congress tours on Saturday and Sunday, 15 and 16 September 2012

After the congress week, four different post-congress tours will take you to places of interest in Austria and its neighbouring countries of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.

One day trips

You can choose between one-day trips on Saturday to the Danube Valley “Wachau”, an UNESCO World Heritage Site upstream from Vienna, as well as to the Slovakian capital Bratislava downstream along the Danube.

Two-day trips

Two-day trips on Saturday and Sunday are offered to Telc and Prague, as well as to Budapest and Gödöllö.
The post-congress tours are also dedicated to conservation matters. Experts in the field from Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia will guide you through their home towns, the special venues and attractions, studios and laboratories. The conservation programmes are scheduled on Saturday, so the Sunday of the two-day trips in Prague and in Gödöllö are free for you to enjoy the cities.
Tours are restricted to a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 40 people. The deadline for registration ends on 2 August 2012. Please book early in advance to make sure to participate in one of the tours.
Read more and book here: Post-congress tours via Columbus Travel Agency