Palais Clam-Gallas (Vienna)

Panoramic photo of the Palais Clam-Gallas in Vienna

Front view with park

The Palais Clam-Gallas is located at Währinger Straße 30 in Vienna.

history

It was built from 1834 to 1835 in the classical style with a spacious English garden down to Liechtensteinstraße 37a on behalf of Franz Joseph Prince von Dietrichstein according to the plans of the architect Heinrich Koch .

It is also often called the (summer) palace Dietrichstein and can easily be confused with other Palais der Dietrichstein . The land with the field name "Sohlschneiderin" was acquired in 1690 by Ferdinand Josef Reichsfürst Dietrichstein and used as a garden. It came into the possession of the Clam-Gallas family on April 28, 1850 in the course of the wedding of Clotilde Princess von Dietrichstein-Proskau , the granddaughter of the builder, with Eduard Graf Clam-Gallas .

After the Second World War, the building served for some time to look after American troops. Thanks to the help of General Béthouart (1946–1950), the Clam-Gallas family sold the palace on August 30, 1951 for 4,300,000 schillings (inflation-adjusted today around 3 million EUR) in favor of the French Institute of Vienna. This was the result of the Franco-Austrian cultural agreement of May 15, 1947. The sales contract was signed by Ambassador Jean Pagar and the contract was exempt from all fees on the basis of Art. 3 of the cultural agreement BGD1 / 220-47. This purchase only came about on the condition that the City of Vienna approved the construction of the Lycée Français in the lower part of the park, at Liechtensteinstrasse, according to the plan by the architect Jacques Laurent. As a result, the Lycée Français opened its doors on May 8, 1954. This was previously in the Lobkowitz Palace .

The building right there on the street, with romantic gothic windows still visible on the back, was converted by Dietrichstein into a riding school. The studio of the sculptor Theodor Friedl (1842–1900) was temporarily located there . This then resulted in the “Flieger-Kino”, which was rebuilt again in 1971 and incorporated into the Lycée as “Studio Molière”.

In 1995, together with Romée de La Poëze d'Harambure as investor and project developer and the ambassador at the time, André Lewin, a new use of the area was sought. A study on new economic uses was commissioned. The planned investment was to take place in part through the sale of building 1., Wollzeile 16. The plan was to re-adapt the entire area, including the roofing of the Lycée Français, purpose-built office apartments and the new construction of the adjacent Studio Molière. No decision was made and the project was shut down again in June 1996.

From 2006 to 2007 the palace was renovated and the iron lattice fence on Währinger Straße was repaired. Some state rooms are rented out for festive occasions. In November 2015, the Palais was sold by France on the open market, i.e. without a public tender, to the Emirate of Qatar , which promised to carry out a renovation and wants to make its message out of the building. The rumored sales price was 30 million euros

architecture

Entrance hall stairs

Library

The palace is a two-storey classical building with a porch that extends over the entire front part and with its Doric columns is reminiscent of a Greek temple. The rear garden no longer exists in its old form, most of which is now occupied by the French school, but a certain remainder gives an idea of the original atmosphere.

Inside there is an almost square, flat-roofed entrance hall, to the left of which the curved, cantilevered platform staircase in an open, pilaster-structured staircase. In the side wings, arranged symmetrically, there are two self-supporting, flat arched stairs, all with steps made from the Kaisersteinbrucher stone.

Individual evidence

↑ Contact Location. Address. (No longer available online.) In: institut-francais.at . Institut français d'Autriche, archived from the original on June 20, 2014 ; accessed on September 27, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
^ Dietrichsteinpalais (9, Währinger Straße 30) in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna
↑ Description Dilp. Ing. Heinz Schwarz and Ziviling. Bernd Fister / Archive Schloss Artstetten / Romée d'Harambure / 1996
^ Letter of April 16, 1996, French Embassy / Romée d´Harambure / Archives Schloss Arststetten
^ Letters dated May 2 and 15, 1996 from the French Embassy / Romée d´Harambure / Archives Schloss Artstetten
↑ ^a ^b Alexander U. Mathe: "Sale of the Palais Clam-Gallas could be void" Wiener Zeitung of May 2, 2016
↑ "Palais Clam-Gallas goes to Qatar" , wien.orf.at of November 13, 2015