Wasserglacis, Recreation area in Vienna, Austria

Wasserglacis was a leisure ground outside Vienna's Carolinentor, roughly on the site of today's Gartenbaugebäude, the Parkring in front of it and part of the Stadtpark opposite. From 1818 it held alleys, ornamental gardens and a pavilion, replaced in 1822 by a solid wooden coffeehouse with windows. Mineral water was served there, stored in "Plutzer" bottles opened to the sound of a bell. It disappeared when the bastions were demolished and the Stadtpark was laid out in 1862.

The Wasserglacis was a recreation and entertainment area in front of the Carolinentor gate of Vienna's city walls, roughly where the Gartenbau building, the Parkring and part of the Stadtpark now lie. In 1818 the citizen Pelikan received permission to build a coffeehouse with a mineral-water drinking cure pavilion there, which gave the site its name. In 1822 the open kiosk became a solid wooden building with windows. After the bastions were demolished, the Stadtpark was laid out on the site in 1862.

The name comes from the mineral-water pavilion opened in 1818 by a citizen named Pelikan, where water was stored in "Plutzer" bottles and a bell announced each cork being opened. Around it vendors sold goat's milk and wafers, children played by day and couples met in the evening. Johann Strauss the Elder presented his Radetzky March here on 31 August 1848, and his son premiered several waltzes on the same ground.

The Wasserglacis no longer exists: it lay where the Parkring and part of the Stadtpark now run, roughly at today's junction of Weihburggasse and Parkring. The mineral-water house stood there, and the site was replaced in 1862 when the Stadtpark was laid out after the bastions were demolished. Look for the Parkring frontage and the Stadtpark opposite to trace its extent.

The mineral water house stood roughly at today's junction of Weihburggasse and Parkring. Waiters announced each bottle of "Plutzer" mineral water by ringing a bell when they uncorked it, so the whole promenade knew someone was drinking.