Mariahilfer Strasse is one of the longest streets in Vienna, a main artery running west from the town centre to the area around Schonbrunn. The part between Getreidemarkt (Grain Market) and Westbahnhof (the Western Railway Station) is also the busiest shopping street in this part of the city. Here you will find Vienna’s largest department stores and its best window displays. Shopping tends to be better value here than in Karntner Strasse, but is still more costly than in Meidling or Favoriten, for instance. Mariahilfer Strasse took its name from the church of St Mary, Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, built in the late 17th century on the site of an older church, but was not consecrated until 1730. Its fa?ade is an austere pyramidal structure, rising to a bulbous steeple, and there are lively Rococo reliefs set in its walls. In front of the church stands a monument to the composer Joseph Haydn (108), who lived at this address for 12 years. Mariahilfer Strasse 5 is the longest and most famous double-exit house in Vienna, the birthplace in 1790 of the popular Austrian playwright Ferdinand Raimund (28).
