Vienna City Hall

The Vienna City Hall (German: Wiener Rathaus) is the seat of Vienna’s local administration, located on Rathausplatz in the Innere Stadt area. It was built from 1872 to 1883 in the Neo-Gothic style according to designs drawn by Friedrich von Schmidt and contains the Mayor’s office as well as the chambers of the municipal council and the Vienna Landtag diet. The Vienna City Hall was the world’s tallest structure for a brief while between 1892 and 1894, until it was surpassed by Milwaukee City Hall.

Location

When Vienna’s land and population expanded dramatically in 1850 as a result of the annexation of various suburbs, the ancient town hall on Wipplingerstraße quickly became too small.Following the demolition of the city wall and the construction of the ring road by imperial decree in 1858-1865, a tender for the construction of a new town hall was launched in 1868, with the German architect Friedrich von Schmidt emerging as the winner.The town hall was to be built in the Ringstrasse district, which also housed other significant structures such as the Vienna State Opera, which opened in 1869, the parliament building, which opened in 1883, and the new one, which opened in 1884.In 1888, the main building of the University of Vienna and the new Burgtheater were completed.

The land initially under consideration was opposite the Stadtpark, Vienna’s first municipal park, which was built as part of the ring road construction.However, the city administration’s wishes were ultimately concentrated on a portion of the Josefstädter Glacis, a building ban zone in front of the (now demolished) city wall that served as a parade ground in the nineteenth century and could only be wrested from the emperor in 1870 after the intervention of Mayor Cajetan Felder.The city administration and the kk Governments have long fought over who would contribute what share of the funding for the ring road project; the question of where to build the town hall, with which the growing bourgeoisie wanted to demonstrate their self-confidence to the emperor, played a prominent role.

Architecture

The Vienna City Hall was constructed between 1872 and 1883 and is one of numerous historicist structures built around the Ringstrasse at the period.The front of the town hall is an exceptional example of a neo-Gothic secular structure.The exterior, notably the 98-meter-tall tower, is influenced by the heritage of Flemish Gothic town halls, such as the Brussels Town Hall on the Grand-Place/Grote Markt, in order to outwardly connect in with the medieval legacy of urban freedom.The floor layout, which includes seven courtyards, is based on the baroque notion palaces.The designation of the entire structure as neo-Gothic should thus be used with care, and Schmidt himself rejected it.

The town hall has a total useable space of 113,000 m2 and a floor area of 19,592 m2.The structure is 152 meters long and 127 meters broad, with 1,575 rooms and 2,035 windows.The building expenditures were estimated to be roughly 14 million guilders.

The structure is composed of bricks with natural stone covering. Only a few pieces, such as the spiers, are totally built of stone.Algae limestone from the Leitha Mountains (hard, thick limestone from Wöllersdorf, Hundsheim near Deutsch-Altenburg, Kaisersteinbruch, Mannersdorf, and Oslip ) and porous sand-lime bricks from St. Margarethen, Breitenbrunn, and Zogelsdorf were mostly utilized.Sand-lime bricks, on the other hand, had to be supplied from various regions of the monarchy and from overseas, as the demand from the other Ringstrasse structures under construction could not be met only by quarries near Vienna.For columns, cornices, and capitals, karst limestone was employed.Jurassic lime from Trento was used for window pillars, while Savonnières from Nancy was used for balustraded figures.

The diversity may only be hinted at, Untersberg marble for the smaller columns, Istrian chalk lime from Ernigrad for the seats in the front arcades and the steps of the outside stairway, the roof was covered with “English slate ” and had to be restored after the war.

The memorial honoring the town hall’s architect, designed by Edmund Hofmann von Aspernburg and Julius Deininger and dedicated on May 28, 1896, is located behind the town hall on the Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz, which was designated in 1907.It was initially positioned in the center of the square, but was relocated to the park’s northern section in the 1960s due to traffic concerns.

Main Tower

The 3.4-meter-tall Rathausmann sits atop the spire of the 98-meter-tall tower, an iron standard bearer. Alexander Nehr created it, and master locksmith and factory owner Ludwig Wilhelm donated it.

On October 21, 1932, the statue was affixed on the spire.

1st Floor

The ballroom is located on the first level, towards the front of the hall, and has views of the ring road, Burgtheater, and inner city. The first floor ballroom is 71 meters long and 20 meters wide.The ballroom is next to the banqueting hall, as well as the north buffet and the armorial hall.

The first level also houses the Municipal Council Meeting Room and the Municipal Senate Meeting Room.

Ground Floor

The bottom level of the Vienna City Hall has multiple entrances. There are three entrances: north, south, and west.

The Volkshalle, or “People’s Hall,” sits on the ground level, just under the first-floor ballroom. The Volkshalle is presently utilized to hold events.

Furthermore, the town hall guard, a special unit of the Viennese professional fire brigade, has been stationed on the ground floor of the town hall for security purposes since 1927. Their responsibilities include normal fire response and catastrophe control.

1st Basement

The first basement, also known as the Vienna City Hall cellar, opened on February 12, 1899. Josef Urban oversaw the artistic design, while Heinrich Lefler oversaw the historical murals. The Knights’ Hall, Green Hall, and Grinzinger Keller are among the many chambers in the first basement.

Historical paintings and woodwork were extensively repaired during substantial renovations in 1925, 1952, and 2005.

Vienna, Austria