Schlagwort: 1010wien

In the course of a Sneak Preview to the Open House – Event on 9 & 10 Sept 2023 there was the opportunity to visit the Vienna University Library in the strict-historical main building of the University of Vienna by Heinrich Ferstel from 1883 at the Ringstraße. With nearly 8 million books, e-books, e-journals, etc. in several locations, it is the largest academic library in Austria.

In addition to the now 2-story, large reading room with skylight of the 1365 founded, and thus oldest university library in the German-speaking world, also the 1960s by Erich Boltenstern planned book depository with about 3 million volumes, the newly designed front area and the entablature can be visited.

Information is also provided on current developments with regard to the further development of the collections and a new book depot in Paukerwerkstrasse in Floridsdorf, which was approved in July of this year, to relieve the pressure on the inner city areas.

The Athene Fountain on Vienna’s Ringstrasse, planned by Theophil Hansen and realized in Lasa marble from South Tyrol, was not unveiled until 1902, almost 20 years after the completion of the parliament building. The originally planned representation of Austria was then erected on the Freyung for political reasons.

Beneath the powerful representation of the Greek goddess of wisdom with Nike, the goddess of victory, in her right hand, allegorical representations of the separation of powers are shown: the executive with a sword and the legislative with a book. Important rivers of the monarchy: the Inn and Danube in the center, the Elbe and Vltava on the reverse are typically depicted as reclining figures. Winged cupids riding on dolphins symbolize trade and industry.

The fountain, which was completely renovated in 2005, is considered a rare example of a monumental, Strict Historicism sculpture and was realized by the sculptors Carl Kundmann, Josef Tautenhayn and Hugo Haerdtl.

The Hofburg Chapel, as the main chapel of the Hofburg, was the house chapel of the Habsburgs until the end of the monarchy in 1918. It was built in the late Romanesque style as early as the 13th century and was rebuilt and expanded in the Gothic style in the 15th century under Emperor Frederick III. It was the responsibility of the K.u.k. Hof- und Burgpfarre, a Roman Catholic parish with special status under church law, which was responsible for the spiritual care of the imperial family and the court.

Already under Emperor Maximilian I, the Vienna Hofmusikkapelle, founded in 1498, gave concerts there. Today, it consists of the Vienna Boys‘ Choir, parts of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, parts of the Herrenchor of the Vienna State Opera and the Choralschola, a group of former Vienna Boys‘ Choir members.

The ensemble, which is today subordinate to the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sports, performs not only in public concerts but also, in particular, as an accompaniment to Sunday Mass in the Hofburg Chapel (except July and August).

On the occasion of the redesign of the staircase in front of the church Maria am Gestade in the Inner City, the Hannaken Fountain designed by Rudolf Schmidt was opened in 1937. The term Hannaken refers to an ethnic group from the Hanna region in Moravia (now the Czech Republic), who inhabited a plain between the Haná and Morava rivers and developed their own style of dress as well as a specific folk culture.

The fountain represents the legend of a „Hannakenkönig“ who lived in the adjacent inn „Zum Wolf in der Au“ and is said to have thrown a beating at the feet of passing passers-by at night in order to earn money from the treatment required afterwards. Popularly known as „Hanake“, he is said to have worked as a bather, offering all kinds of physical services such as bloodletting, dental treatment or wound care.

The scene is shown of helpers taking the wounded man – often well-heeled drunks who had just left the inn – to the place of treatment. Also the winged word „throwing a beating at the feet“ is said to have originated from this. Incidentally, the fountain is made of Lindabrunn stone, which was already popular with the Romans in Vienna.

The City Hall on Vienna’s Ringstrasse in the historicist neo-Gothic style was completed in 1883 after 11 years of construction according to the plans of Friedrich von Schmidt. The location is due to the initiative of the Viennese mayor Cajetan Felder, who rejected the originally planned building site opposite today’s Stadtpark and was finally able to convince Emperor Franz Josef I. to build on the former parade ground.

The monumental building, modeled on Flemish Gothic town halls, bears a multitude of reliefs, statues of historical figures, artists, representatives of civic professions, citizen soldiers and shield bearers with the coats of arms of the suburbs, both inside and out. The building is crowned by a 5.4 m high and 1.8 t heavy town hall man in the form of a standard bearer, which is placed on the 98 m high main tower.

The building, which was severely damaged during WWII, was then renovated until the 1970s, the last general renovation taking place in 2012-2014. In addition to the mayor, the municipal council, the city senate, the provincial government and various municipal departments, including the director of the magistrate’s office, also reside in the building.

The Minoritenkirche (Friars Minor Conventual Church) in downtown Vienna, remarkable in many respects, houses a replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s „The Last Supper,“ probably the world’s most famous wall fresco, made by the Roman mosaic artist Giacomo Raffaelli starting in 1805/06.

Originally commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte for the Louvre Museum, the Roman mosaic was also intended to serve as a safeguard for the original, already in poor condition, in the refectory of the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan from 1497.

After the fall of Napoleon, Emperor Franz II/I originally purchased the 9.2×4.5m work for the Belvedere. Due to its size, it was installed in the Minorite Church above the Cenacolo side altar and inaugurated in 1847. The world’s largest reproduction of the 20-ton mural on twelve 24cm thick stone slabs between 2 inscriptions captivates to this day by the detailed execution and high artistic quality.

In the center of the Volksgarten on Vienna’s Ringstrasse, the Swiss-Austrian court architect Peter von Nobile built the approximately 14x25m large classical Theseus Temple in 1823. The crypt of the building, which was planned in the type of a ring hall temple (peripteros) with 6×10 columns, was to serve as a place for the sculptures of the imperial collection of antiquities, especially for the Theseus group designed by Antonio Canova.

Due to the construction on the area of the former moat, the foundations of the catacombs had to reach deep down, but soon proved to be too wet, so that the sculptures were later taken away. Today, the Theseus figure is located in the intermediate landing of the main staircase in the Kunsthistorisches Museum.

After extensive renovation in the 2000s, the temple now serves as an exhibition space and can also be accessed barrier-free. The bronze figure of a youthful athlete by Josef Müllner placed in front of it was ceremoniously unveiled in 1923 and was considered a sign of life for Austrian sports.

On Stock-im-Eisen-Platz, directly next to St. Stephen’s Cathedral, there is today the house „Zum goldenen Becher“ from 1883, built according to the plans of the Austrian Arch. Alexander Wielemans of Monteforte in the late historicist style. Wielemans was also responsible for the Palace of Justice in Vienna and the City Hall in Graz.

The name of the residential and commercial building in old German forms derives from a house sign of the previous building, a wrought iron grille with a cup, located above the front gate. The background for this was possibly the Corpus Christi procession in 1549, during which a Protestant baker’s boy named Johann Hayn is said to have snatched the monstrance from the priest and was then burned as punishment. The reigning king and later emperor Ferdinand I would have had a column with a monstrance erected at the site.

Despite damages during WWII, rich facade paintings with allegorical figures, portraits of emperors and verses on the history of the house and the city can still be seen between the round-arched windows, an embellished floor with a lattice balcony on consoles and partly also Ionic red marble columns.

One of the showpieces of the excellent Hofjagd- und Rüstkammer in the Hofburg is undoubtedly the so-called „Adlergarnitur“ from 1547, which the later Emperor Ferdinand I had made for his son, Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol. The name derives from the gilded eagles decorated on the surface, the heraldic animals of old Austria.

The knightly luxury armor, which was usually worn for representation purposes at tournaments, consists of 87 individual parts that can be combined as a modular system to 12 different armors for different occasions (on horseback, on foot, for field, tournament, foot combat, etc..). The „sporting equipment“, elegant due to its excellent execution and decoration, was created by the Innsbruck plater Jörg Seusenhofer.

To produce it, iron was fire-gilded, framed in black, engraved and rivet heads were made of brass. The considerable cost was equivalent to 12 years‘ salary of a high court official. The field armor is the largest preserved of its kind and, through illustration in the inventory of Archduke Ferdinand II, also the best documented.

The Theater Ronacher of 1872 was originally planned by Ferdinand Fellner & Sohn for the German theater director Heinrich Laube. After 20 years of successful management of the Burgtheater, Laube was rudely replaced and, together with the publisher of the „Neue Wiener Presse“ Max Friedländer, decided to build a privately financed rival theater to the Burg. This developed into a legendary duel between the houses, which was abruptly interrupted by a fire 12 years later.

The theater entrepreneur Anton Ronacher had the ruins rebuilt by the theater architects Fellner and Helmer in 1888 as the „Konzert- und Ballhaus Ronacher“. The building, which was repeatedly adapted, was used after WWII as an alternative stage for the castle, then later for TV productions and, after 10 years of vacancy, was expanded by the Vereinigen Bühnen Wien as a musical stage with more than 1,000 seats.

After a general renovation, in the 2000s there was still a controversial roof extension of the on 3 sides free-standing theater building in historicism with temple facade by Arch. Günter Domenig.