The gothic Vienna City Hall, with a 97.9 meter high clock tower, was designed and built by Freidrich Schmidt between 1871 and 1883. Schmidt was a bit of a rogue. When Emperor Franz Joseph decreed that no secular tower could be higher than the 99 meter tower of the Votivkirche ( The Votive Church, commissioned by Archduke Maximillian to thank God for saving the life of his brother, Franz Joseph, during an assassination attempt) Schmidt added an iron standard ( cast from melted down Russian Kopecs) with a medieval knight at the top. This ruse made the tower 104.3 meters tall.
The inner courtyard of the Vienna City Hall.
The clock tower that architect Schmidt added an iron standard with a medieval knight ( called the Rathausmann) to the top. The resulting structure ended up measuring 104.3 meters tall (the tallest tower in Vienna) as a ruse to get around a decree from Emperor Franz Joesph.
The Rathausmann statue on top of the clock tower of the Vienna City Hall.
The Festival Hall was constructed in the late 19th century and is the largest hall in Austria (measuring 71 meters long, 20 meters wide, and 18.5 meters high). This is used for large scale events, such as balls, concerts, etc. Theoretically, 1500 couples could dance within this hall, if safety rules allowed it.
At each end of the hall are identical orchestra platforms. During the ball celebrating the official opening of this hall, two orchestras (one at each end of the hall), both conducted by Johann Strauss II - son of the famous composer - alternated playing dance music.
One of the upper level conference rooms displays coats-of-arms banners of the nine districts of Austria. The one displayed here is for Vienna.
Vienna is not only the federal Capitol of Austria, it also is a province in its own right. Thus, this hall serves as the meeting place for the City Council, as well as the Diet (the lower House of Parliament- similar to our House of Representatives).
This massive chandelier in the Council Chamber is said to have been made as one piece. It is three meters by five meters and is anchored directly to the building's roof structure.
The ceiling of the Council Chamber is reminiscent of those in many palaces we have seen.
Along the wall of one of the central stairwells is this map of old Vienna. The walls seen surrounding the city no longer exist.
RSS Feed
