Palace of Justice (Vienna)

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Vienna Palace of Justice
Historical view of the Palace of Justice before the fire
Glass-covered central hall with the statue of Justitia

The Palace of Justice in Vienna was built from 1875 to 1881 in the neo-renaissance style. The auditorium with the central main staircase and the coats of arms of the former Austrian crown lands is particularly magnificent . The Palace of Justice is located in the first district of Vienna between Schmerlingplatz (front) and the Zweierlinie .

The following institutions are located in the Palace of Justice:

The Ministry of Justice is now no longer in the Palace of Justice, but in on the two-line opposite the Palais Trautson .

history

The architect was Alexander Wielemans von Monteforte , the site managers Paul Lange and Dominik Avanzo . The two lions above the outside staircase and the marble statue of Justitia with a gold-plated sword and code of law were made by the South Tyrolean sculptor Emanuel Pendl .

During a demonstration following the Schattendorfer judgment on July 15, 1927, the top floors were stormed and set on fire. During the police action that followed, the crowd was shot wildly. 89 demonstrators and four police officers were killed.

The reconstruction with the addition of a storey and monumental highlighting of the entrance area took place in 1929–1931 according to plans by Heinrich Ried and Alfred Keller . The design in the style of late historicism was sharply criticized by modern architects such as Josef Frank and Josef Hoffmann .

From 1945 to 1953, in addition to the judicial facilities, the Palace of Justice housed the Vienna Interallied Command , which then moved to the headquarters of the Allied Council ( Schwarzenbergplatz 4 ). During this period, the monthly handover of command between the occupying powers and the daily inspection of the Allied military patrols ( discussed in 1951 in the film Die Vier im Jeep ) took place on Schmerlingplatz in front of the Palace of Justice .

A further expansion was completed in summer 2007: it added another top floor to the building - not visible from the street. This includes a publicly accessible café directly above the main entrance; After the work was completed, the Vienna Regional Court for Civil Law Matters was relocated back to the Palace of Justice in April 2007. Also new is a central library, which was built in the form of a "reading bridge" across one of the inner courtyards.

Reception hall (auditorium)

The upper area of ​​the stairs with the statue of Justitia

The reception hall or assembly hall , a three-storey, glass-covered arcade courtyard with a length of 31 m, a width of 15 m and a height of 23 m, is particularly splendid . A grand staircase leads from the center of the hall to the second floor. The optical extension of the stairs ends with the monumental marble statue of Justitia, who sits enthroned in a niche with a gilded sword and a code of law. Above the niche is the Imperial Austrian coat of arms with the symbols of the houses of Habsburg, Lorraine and Austria.

On the opposite side there is a large clock with a chrono head and a siren on each side . The coats of arms of the kingdoms and countries represented in the Imperial Council, for which the Supreme Court formed the joint supreme court instance, are attached above the pillars in the arched fields on the upper floor .

Memorial plaque in the Palace of Justice

In the auditorium of the Palace of Justice there is a memorial plaque for the fire in the Palace of Justice in Vienna on July 15, 1927. The inscription reads:

“ Two innocent people were killed in violent clashes between supporters of the Republican Protection Association and the Front Fighter Association in the Burgenland town of Schattendorf on January 30, 1927. The perpetrators were acquitted. In the course of a violent demonstration against this verdict , the Palace of Justice was set on fire. The police received an order to shoot and 89 people were killed. The terrible events of this time, which finally culminated in the civil war of 1934, should be a reminder for all time. "

literature

Web links

Commons : Justizpalast (Vienna)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul Rudolph Lange www.architektenlexikon.at
  2. ↑ Justizpalast shines in new splendor  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Press release of the Federal Real Estate Company, February 6, 2007 (PDF)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.big.at  
  3. ↑ Technology and Economy. The renovation of the Palace of Justice. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt, No. 24172/1931, December 31, 1931, p. 9. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nfp.
  4. ^ Heinrich Karl Ried www.architektenlexikon.at
  5. ↑ See Der Tag (1922–1930) of July 6, 1930 and Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung June 4–6, 1930
  6. ^ Alfred Waldstätten: State courts in Vienna since Maria Theresa. Contributions to their history. A handbook ( Research on Viennese City History , Volume 54), Studien-Verlag Innsbruck / Wien / Bozen 2011, ISBN 978-3-7065-4956-1 , p. 305

Coordinates: 48 ° 12 ′ 23 ″  N , 16 ° 21 ′ 26 ″  E