Graham Greene
A special 75th Anniversary Graham Greene – Third Man trip will be taking place this June. It is being organised and led by Dr. Brigitte Timmerman. Places on the trip are being offered to members of the Graham Greene Birthplace Trust and the details are given below:
Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of The Third Man in Vienna
Graham Greene, the City and its Networks behind the Making of a Cult Movie
13th – 16th, June 2024
Vienna is at the very heart of The Third Man, Graham Greene’s Cold War thriller. Bombed-out, destitute, divided among the four victorious powers and notorious for Cold War espionage, the city provided Greene with the perfect backdrop for his metaphor of a world physically and morally fallen into pieces. He visited Vienna twice in connection with the making of The Third Man – in February 1948 for inspiration, and again in August for collaborating on the shooting script with director Carol Reed. Years later, he returned to Vienna to attend the Austrian première of The Potting Shed, and one more time at the invitation of the Austrian PEN Club. The three-day programme will take us back into the world of Greene and the people who directly and indirectly contributed towards, or served as inspiration for, the intricate fabric of The Third Man. Among them are Kim Philby, his Austrian wife Litzy Friedman, and her friends Edith Tudor-Hart and Peter Smolka/Smollett. We will visit places associated with Greene’s various residences in Vienna as well as iconic film locations including the Prater Wheel, the Central Cemetery, and Vienna’s main sewer. Also included is the world’s only Third Man Museum, a treasure trove for Greene aficionados. Zither music, an illustrated talk about post-war Vienna under Allied control, and an informal dinner at a traditional Viennese wine tavern will complement the sightseeing programme. In addition to all the Greene connections, this themed visit of Vienna will also allow you to learn more about Austro-British connections in general and to enjoy the architectural and cultural beauties of the vibrant city Vienna is today.
Thursday 13 June:
Individual arrival in Vienna and free time to settle into your Hotel Leonardo Schoenbrunn*. Meet and greet in the hotel lobby at 6pm.
Friday 14 June: At 9am our private coach will pick us up for an extensive tour of Vienna. See the impressive architecture of the Ringstrasse, Vienna’s grand ‘Boulevard of Splendor’, described by Greene as a street of ‘heavy public buildings and prancing statuary’. We will also pass the neo-gothic town hall where Kim Philby got married in 1934 and where Mayor Theodor Körner assured Carol Reed of all possible support the city could give him and his crew. We continue to the Danube, no longer ‘a grey flat muddy river a long way off across the second bezirk, the Russian zone’, and the municipal Karl Marx housing estate, an iconic example of the building initiative of ‘Red’ Vienna. When it came under fierce attack by government troops during the Civil War of February 1934, Kim Philby helped Socialist fighters escape through its sewers. The Prater Amusement 
Park is no longer ‘smashed and desolate and full of weeds’, the Giant Wheel still revolving slowly over merry-go-rounds and roller coasters. Not to be missed is Vienna’s Central Cemetery where Harry Lime ‘was laid to rest’ only a few steps away from the graves of Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and the Strauss dynasty. After a light lunch we will continue our sightseeing programme with an illustrated walk to some of the most memorable Third Man locations tucked away among the splendid historical legacy of the Habsburg Empire. The tour will end with zither music in a private historic cellar and an illustrated talk about Greene’s post-war Vienna. The rest of the day is at your leisure for individual dinner, opera or concert.
Saturday 15: At 9.30am pick-up from the hotel for a morning walking tour of more sights associated with Greene and the intricate Austro-British network behind the making of the film. After a light lunch, we will descend into Vienna’s main sewer, Harry Lime’s subterranean hideaway. Close by are the Naschmarkt, Vienna’s largest open-air market once hub of the notorious black market, the early 19th century Theater an der Wien, 
where Greene attended a performance of Fidelio, and the unique Third Man Museum. Coach transfer to the Josefstadt Theater. In 1948, it served as a location of The Third Man. In 1957, Greene attended the highly-acclaimed Austrian première of The Potting Shed. The day ends with an informal buffet dinner at a traditional Viennese wine tavern.
Sunday 16 June: At 9:30 pick up for a tour of the former Habsburg summer residence of Schoenbrunn, only a few minutes away from the Leonardo Hotel. The palace and gardens are among the most impressive Baroque ensembles in Europe. During the Allied occupation, Schoenbrunn was requisitioned by the British forces serving the Commanders-in-Chief as headquarters. Enjoy the fabulous state rooms and delight in the beauty of the garden’s flower parterre, where after the war they grew potatoes and held military tattoos to raise money for ailing Viennese children. Return to the hotel for picking up luggage and travelling back to the airport.
The programme is organized and conducted by Dr. Brigitte Timmermann, Austrian historian, professional tour guide and long-standing friend of the Graham Greene Birthplace Trust.
Package price: 580 GBP (Based on small group of max.15, Single supplement 170 GBP). Included are 3 nights with cold/warm buffet breakfast at the 4* Leonardo Schoenbrunn Hotel located within convenient reach of the airport as well as the city centre, all bus and walking tours, illustrated talk, music, admission tickets, 72-hour travel pass, 2 traditional Viennese light lunches, and an informal buffet dinner including drinks.
If you are interested in booking the Vienna programme or would like to have more detailed information, please do not hesitate to send an email to: brigitte@viennawalks.com