Monat: Mai 2024

The 113m long and up to 28m high Palm House in Schönbrunn Palace Park was first built in 1880-1882 according to plans by Arch. Xaver Segenschmid by the “k. und k. Hofschlosser und Eisenconstructeur” Ignaz Gridl and is one of the largest plant houses of its kind in the world.

State-of-the-art technology was built into the iron construction, which was extremely expensive even for the time, including a steam water heating system to create different climate zones for the Habsburg collection of exotic plants. There was also criticism of the use of marines to fix (and later clean) the 45,000 or so panes of glass with window putty. After massive damage during the Second World War and only gradual repairs, an almost 14-year renovation was later necessary, which was then completed in 1990.

Particularly noteworthy plants include a 350-year-old olive tree, a specimen of a Wollemia, a plant species that was only discovered in 1994, a home-grown Seychelles palm and the azalea collection. The former central “Maria Theresa Palm” and the subsequent “Sisi Palm” each had to be cut down as they threatened to burst through the roof.

The 2001 monument to Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) in the Votive Park next to the Votive Church made of Carrara marble by Italian sculptor Gianni Aricò shows a group of figures with three female musicians, probably an allusion to Vivaldi’s teaching activities at the “Ospedale della Pietà” in Venice, formerly an orphanage for girls, where he gave young women access to the concert business.

In front of it is an inclined plate with a metal relief and a portrait of the famous Venetian-Italian baroque composer and violinist, who was also ordained as a Roman Catholic priest at the age of 25.

The initiators of the monument – the Vienna and Venice Lions Club – wanted to create a symbol of international understanding between Italy and Austria as well as a reminder of Vivaldi’s move to Vienna in 1740, where he died just 10 months after his arrival, unnoticed by the music world, and was buried in the Bürgerspital cemetery in front of the former city wall on today’s Karlsplatz, which is also commemorated by a memorial plaque.

Evening view of the Danube Canal with a reflection of the inner city skyline at the „IBM Center“ on Obere Donaustraße in Leopoldstadt. The striking office building from 1969 was built according to plans by Viennese Arch. Georg Lippert on the site of the former Diana baths and renovated in 1999-2001.