Vienna City Hall – a festive setting for events

How high is Vienna City Hall? Who was the architect and when did the first meeting take place? Where used to be the seat of the Mayor of Vienna? Since when has the office of mayor existed in Vienna?

Austria has nine federal states. Vienna is therefore both the federal capital and a federal state. Vienna City Hall, the largest building along the Ringstrasse, is the seat of the Mayor of Vienna. The architect Friedrich von Schmidt (previously master builder of the cathedral in Cologne) created the neo-Gothic building at the end of the 19th century as part of the construction of Vienna’s Ringstrasse. It was built between 1872 and 1883 and is one of the largest buildings on Vienna’s Ringstrasse.

The town hall tower should not be higher than the adjacent Votive Church at 99m . The height of the town hall tower is also no more than 97.9m . However, a trick was played and the Rathausmann (a 6m high iron figure) was placed on top of the tower. In strong winds, you can see the Rathausmann swaying back and forth.

Festive interiors

The interior of the town hall impresses with its ceremonial staircase and various large state rooms, where waltzes are often danced. City Hall and the square are also used for major events such as the Life Ball, Vienna Ice Dream, Film Festival, Vienna Festival Weeks, Christmas Market (the largest Christmas market in Vienna) and New Year’s Eve Trail. Many statues and fountains adorn the Rathauspark .

Where was the town hall located in the past? The Old City Hall and the Salvator Chapel are located at Wipplingerstraße 8 in Vienna’s city center. The venerable building served as the town hall and district office of the city of Vienna for around 700 years. The baroque portal in the style of Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach dates from around 1700. Georg Raphael Donner built the beautiful Andromeda Fountain in the inner courtyard.

On June 20, 1885, the Vienna City Council met for the last time in the Old City Hall before convening for the first time on June 23, 1885, in the New City Hall on the Ring, which was completed in 1883 .

Today, concerts and readings still take place in the old baroque hall of the Old Town Hall . The building houses the municipal district offices for the 1st and 8th districts, the Innere Stadt District Museum and the Documentation Archive of Austrian Resistance . The latter can be visited free of charge and takes you back to the time of the Second World War.

The mayor’s office was first explicitly mentioned in the town charter in 1340 . The neo-Gothic form was deliberately chosen when building the town hall, as the 13th and 14th century meant the rise of the bourgeoisie . The town hall is very reminiscent of Flemish town halls. The town hall in Brussels was the model. However, the layout is also reminiscent of Baroque palace architecture with its many inner courtyards. The Ringstrasse architecture is best described as historicism , as this basically combines all architectural styles from earlier artistic periods. The architects did not invent a new style, but simply mixed existing styles in their architecture.

Behind the town hall is Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz in honor of the architect. A statue adorns the square.

Time Travel Tip: There is a tourist information center behind City Hall. This is also where the free guided tours start, which are highly recommended and provide an insight into the administration of the City of Vienna. Of course, you will also see the most beautiful rooms of the City Hall.

More information: Vienna City Hall – Administration, Information and Events

Image sources: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wien_Rathaus_hochaufl%C3%B6send.jpg