Brit film Third Man puts Vienna into the sewers
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Peter Ryborz on location in Vienna’s sewers. Foto: EuroPics
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By By David Hill
Row over access threatened project.
Fourth Man tours.
Vienna.
With its Alpine heritage it has taken a while for Austria to cash in on
other attractions but as News on Austria (NoA) reported last week,
catering to fans of the Sound of Music has founded a multi million euro
tourism ind- ustry for Salzburg.
What is less well known is that a British film is starting to do the same for Vienna - thanks to a Ger- man man.
When Peter Ryborz started offering tours of the sewers where Orson
Welles starred in classic the Third Man, it made headlines around the
world.
He ran the tours until 2003 by which time they were so popular a
range of spin off events like underground balls, music concerts and art
shows were also offered. Then he claims the Vienna city council forced
him to shut down in a row over liabilty insurance, a move he clai- ms
simply allowed them to set up a rival tour to get control of his idea,
and quietly bury it. But he is not bitter. He said: "I am glad I helped
bring the Third Man back to Vienna. And I still have a limited tour but
not to the most interesting places - that are restricted. I call my
sewer tour the Fourth Man Tour, that way there is no dispute.
"I think the council thought I was like the Pied Piper coming into
their city and taking all the tourists away – but instead of leading
the rats away, I took the tourists to see them. It’s a pity because for
five years the government restricted people going down there. Loads
more people would be able to see it - but they keep it quiet.
"Its an amazing world down there though, it dates back to 1629 when
every house had a hidden cellar through which they could escape to
Stephansdom thr- ough the city’s sewers if the city was under siege."
When NoA contacted the council to book their tour we were passed
from a to b and then back again before being told tours were on request
only. Ryborz belives the council do not want the Habsburg jewel Vienna
associated with its sewers.
But that has not stopped the tourists for whom the film captures the
unique Viennese atmosphere dur- ing the post-war allied occupation.
Barbara Timmermann and her family have been taking people on Third
Man tours above ground for over 20 years and she agrees while a hit the
city could benefit more from it.
She said: "The city don’t understand the film gives the essence of
Vienna in the postwar period. All the extras were normal Vienn- ese,
and the sewer police in the film were real Vienna policemen. We want to
show that Vienna is the third man and the Third Man is Vienna. I don’t
know why the council don’t want people to go down there."
http://www.unterwelt.at
08.08.2008