Vienna Stock Exchange

The Vienna Stock Exchange (also known as the Old Stock Exchange) is a structure on Vienna’s Ringstrasse that borders the Schottenring, Wipplingerstraße, Börsegasse, and Börseplatz.

The stock exchange has been headquartered in the offices of the kk K Austrian National Bank, Strauchgasse 4, Vienna-Innere Stadt, since 1861.That year, the Stock market Chamber decided to establish its own stock market building and paid 180,000 guilders for a 3,240 m2 plot of land.When the spatial circumstances proved unsuitable for stock exchange activities, Theophil von Hansen’s (1813-1891) big proposal was chosen in 1869, which gave 865,000 guilders for 8790 m2 of building land and required a loan of five million.The number of daily visitors was remained between 900 and 1000 at the start of 1867, but by 1873 it had risen to 3,200.

In addition to detailed planning for the new building, care was taken to erect an emergency building: after a few delays, partly due to a change in tax law, the stock exchange operation moved to a location next to the Rossauer barracks (then: Rudolph’s barracks) on May 6, 1872 ) at the later address Schottenring 19, erected in wood by the Allgemeine Oesterreichische Baugesellschaft, limited until 1877.

The building, designed by Theophil von Hansen, the architectural competition winner, was built in the Neo-Renaissance style, a type of historicism (characteristic of the Ringstrasse), from 1873 to 1877 by the plan author and architect Carl Tietz (1831-1874).At the same time, Hansen was working on the Parliament Building on another portion of the ring road.

On March 14, 1877, Emperor Franz Joseph I paid a visit to the completed, five million guilder expensive building at the invitation of Imperial and Royal Finance Minister Sisinio von Pretis-Cagnodo, [Note. 3], during which he was shown around by the President of the Stock Exchange Chamber, Moriz Freiherr Wodianer von Kapriora (1810-1885).On March 19, 1877, the first stock exchange meeting was conducted, and thus the stock exchange industry was fully established.Previously, the public may visit the new building on the basis of free entrance tickets, with the enormous trading floor fully lighted in the nighttime hours.The inflow was so large that Archduke Friedrich (1856-1936) had to cancel his visit on March 17, 1877.Dom Pedro II (1825-1891), Emperor of Brazil, and his wife Teresa Maria Cristina of Naples-Sicily were visitors at the new stock exchange the next day.

A bomb seriously destroyed the east corner of the building on March 12, 1945. On April 13, 1956, a massive fire seriously destroyed the home.The stock market hall (58.8/26.5/22.8 m), which had eleven departments, was not repaired but changed into an inner courtyard during the later reconstruction, and stock exchange activities resumed on December 7, 1959.

The building housed Wiener Börse AG from its construction until its relocation to the Palais Caprara-Geymüller at the end of 2001.It is now one among the numerous sites on Vienna’s Ringstrasse, and its halls are available for events.The structure is held by a foundation established by Karl Wlaschek in 2015.