Here you can find some student reports about a visit of the UN headquarters in Vienna on May 16 2023.

UNO-City 

Visiting the UNO-City probably was a once in a lifetime experience. Not only was the building modern, it also had much space and big conference rooms. The best part about the visit was when we could watch conferences and get an understanding about how everything works. 

The Nobel Peace Price was also a highlight because I have never seen one before. What really was surprising, was the big round building, which is connecting all the other buildings. I didn’t know, that there were shops inside and you could even look at paintings from all around the world.  

Last but not least the best thing about the UNO-City was the Stone from the Moon. I always wanted to see one for real and how they are conserved. Also, the size was surprisingly big, because I always thought the stones,that were brought from the Moon, were really small and not that big. 

I personally would go there another time, if there is a chance to. I would really like to go in more buildings and learn about all the facilities in there. 

Felix

Vienna International Center 

I have always been curious about what the UN is doing and how it looks from the inside. The tour on 17.02.2023 gave me the answer.  

First, we meet our tour guide, who told us some basic information about the Vienna international center. He was very friendly and patient when we asked him questions about the UNO. Then we went to a meeting room and we could see how a meeting works. We learned that Chinese (Mandarin), French, English, Russian, and Spanish are international languages and if you want to work there you must be able to speak English or French.  

I hadn’t realized that it’s so big and inside there’s a bank, a kindergarten and more. So, it’s very convenient working there.  

We took lots of photos there and the tour was very informative. 

Siqi

The excursion to the UN-headquarter 

On Friday 18^th we went with our English teacher to the UN headquarter. Just by the looks of it, you know that there has been spent quite a sum on this building, since it contains four big buildings coming together in a circular centre. Before the tour we had to pass certain security checks like the ones at an airport. After that we waited for about 15min in a waiting area, where you have a great view on all the flags representing the members of the UN.  

Then the sightseeing began with a nice tour guide, who handed us over some badges, which register each one as a member of this group. Firstly, he explained the meaning of the UN, how many headquarters there are and which one is specialised on which fields of UN interest, e.g. the one in Vienna deals with atomic and astronomic issues. Then he went on to show us a model of the building and told us something about its architectural background. For me the best part of the tour came next: a glimpse of the conference room, where they were actually holding a meeting at the time of our visit. In this sort of commentator cabin the tour guide told us about the exhausting work of a simultaneous interpreter, whose job is to translate the spoken words in a conference into another language. This per se, can only be done by a true master of language, but doing for several hours is very imposing. After that, he proceeded to walk us through the wing to the core of the building. After mentioning the art collection of the UN and analysing some of the pictures, which mostly relate to peace, we stopped at an exhibition about the first men and woman in space and robots collecting data from the moon. Unfortunately, this was already the end of the tour as we walked back to the waiting area, where we passed by the flags, trying to guess the country represented again. 

All in all, I’d say it was an informative excursion, giving me a better view on the work and effort behind this organisation. The building looks impressive from the outside, but has a modern design on the inside too. It’s definitely worth a shot for anybody who hasn’t already been there. 

Tizian

Our excursion to the UNO-City 

In my opinion, our trip to the UNO-City was incredibly exciting and just generally an amazing experience. Even though the tour itself was only about an hour long, I managed to learn a lot of things about the UN, its work, and its history.   

One thing I particularly enjoyed was learning about the conferences held there daily, their management and their process. On top of that, seeing a conference happen was very thrilling.  

Furthermore, gaining knowledge about the work UN employees do on a daily basis and its effect on everybody was extremely cool. I didn’t know a lot about the UN, so I’m very thankful to have gotten some new and interesting information.  

And last but not least, walking through the buildings and admiring the stunning art and architecture was a magnificent feeling that I’m glad to have experienced.  

Lena

Mag. Emilia Godwin & 6A