Epstein Palace

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Palais Epstein, seen from the Ring (right), Bellariastraße to the left; The loop of the tram lines 46 and 49 and the bus line 48A runs around the palace, under the intersection in the foreground there is an exit to the Volkstheater underground station on the U2 and U3 lines

The Palais Epstein in Vienna was built in the typical style of historicism on the recently laid out Vienna Ringstrasse and is located between the parliament , the former imperial council building , and the natural history museum at Dr.-Karl-Renner-Ring 1 (formerly Burgring 9) , Corner of Bellariastraße.

history

Gustav Ritter von Epstein, painting by an unknown artist around 1870

On behalf of the Jewish banker Gustav von Epstein from Prague , the Palais Epstein was built by the Danish master builder Theophil von Hansen in the historicist style of the neo-renaissance between 1868 and 1871. At that time, the prominent neighboring buildings did not even exist as construction sites. The young Otto Wagner was the site manager. On the ground floor the bank facilities have been set up in the overlying main floor , the sumptuous living quarters of the Epstein family with details such as the walls retractable sliding doors between the living rooms. The non-marble-paneled parts of the staircase walls also have a surface made of stucco lustro (a stucco made with wax that deceptively imitates a tradition from Venice to ancient Pompeii), which to this day also characterizes many rooms of the Imperial Council and Parliament building . The Aristocratic Casino should originally have been built in place of the palace, but the high price prevented this project - the property was the most expensive at the time because of its individual location between Bellariastraße and Schmerlingplatz, opposite the Volksgarten , and its proximity to the Hofburg and other imperial buildings Ringstrasse and only financially for the banker.

Palais Epstein around 1889

As a result of the stock market crash of 1873, Epstein had to sell his palace in order to avert the bank's bankruptcy. It was bought in 1876 by the Imperial Continental Gas Association , London, which operated gasworks and public gas lighting in Vienna and moved its Vienna branch to the Palais in 1883. Its director Henry James Drory lived and worked here until 1899.

In 1902 the building came into state ownership ( kk Ärar ) and became the seat of the Administrative Court . In 1922 this had to give way to the City School Council for Vienna , a federal authority politically dominated by Red Vienna , for which the city administration had asked the federal government to have a seat as close as possible to the Vienna City Hall . For this purpose, the interior of the palace was adapted, wall decorations were concealed and were thus preserved.

During the National Socialist era , the palace became the seat of the building department of the Reich Governor's Office. During this time, the building lost a great deal of its remaining Jewish furnishings and fittings.

After the war, the palace was used by the Soviet occupying power as a central commandant. Brigitte Hamann : "The palace became the scene of bloody interrogations, many desperate suicides." After a detainee fell from the window, the windows of the detention cells on the third floor were barred. (The Viennese police were not allowed to enter the building until 1955.)

After the state treaty in 1955 and the withdrawal of the occupying powers, it was used briefly in the academic year 1957/58 as a branch of the Academy for Music and Performing Arts and then again as the seat of the city school council.

Before he moved out in 2000, Leon Zelman , head of the Jewish Welcome Service Vienna , suggested that the palace be transformed into the House of Austrian History due to its changeful user history, which is not atypical for Austria. His main focus was on the history of the 19th and 20th centuries, to which no museum in Vienna has been specifically dedicated to this day. The then President of the National Council, Heinz Fischer , however, because of the Parliament’s lack of space, insisted on using Palais Epstein primarily for the National Council - without ignoring its historical dimension.

The building was completely renovated on behalf of the Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft (BIG) from January 2004 to October 2005 and, above all, the first floor was restored to its original condition; since then it has served as an annex to parliament. A permanent exhibition about the Epstein family and the history of the house has been set up on the ground floor. Guided tours are organized through the bel étage (optionally combined with the parliament). The salons are used for cultural events and award ceremonies.

Exterior design

  • Facade details

  • Caryatids

  • Caryatids (detailed view)

  • Glöckel memorial plaque

  • Hygieia figure in the courtyard

The three-sided freestanding building block of the Palais Epstein has four floors. The facade is based on forms of the Roman Renaissance . It is structured horizontally. Above the main portal is a balcony supported by four caryatids created by Vincenz Pilz in 1871. Street-side memorial plaques remember Karl and Charlotte Bühler , Otto Glöckel (with a relief bust of Erich Pieler from 1954), Leon Zelman and the Soviet central command. The inner courtyard is covered with glass. In an aedicule in the courtyard there is a Hygieia fountain figure by Vincenz Pilz from 1871.

inside rooms

Festival or dance hall

The vestibule of the palace leads on the right to a simply designed staircase and on the left to a lavishly furnished, cantilevered marble staircase with a coffered ceiling .

In the middle of the bel étage is the former festival or dance hall, which goes back to a design by Theophil von Hansen and Carl Rahl for Oldenburg Castle that was not carried out . The room, which was converted into a negotiating room in 1922, is a prime example of historicist interior design. The light walls contrast with the dark, partially gilded coffered ceiling. The eleven paintings on the coffered ceiling based on designs by Carl Rahl represent a festive mythological cycle, with the birth of Venus in the oval central field. The sculptor Franz Melnitzky made representations of Bacchantes . Anton Detoma designed pilaster shafts that are modeled on the choir pillars of the Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli in Venice .

The winter garden on the piano nobile, which adjoins the festival or dance hall, also has a coffered ceiling. In the frieze is a copy of Alexanderzugs of Bertel Thorvaldsen to see. There are paintings by Christian Griepenkerl on the stucco coffered ceiling in the reception salon on the first floor . The boudoir behind the reception room has a stucco ceiling with casts of Bertel Thorvaldsen's Four Seasons Tondi . The coffered ceiling in the dining room on the first floor is modeled on that of San Lorenzo fuori le mura in Rome and the coffered ceiling in the playroom adjoining the dining room is modeled on that of Santa Maria dei Miracoli in Venice.

literature

Web links

Commons : Palais Epstein  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Austrian Parliament: Equal educational opportunities for all: The school reformers Otto Glöckel, Charlotte and Karl Bühler in the Palais Epstein
  2. ^ Text on the Parliament's website, Vienna 2005
  3. ^ Photo from 1956 of the former arrest window in the picture archive of the Austrian National Library
  4. ↑ Website of the Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft (BIG)  ( 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.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.big.at  
  5. ↑ Bundesdenkmalamt (Ed.): Dehio-Handbuch Wien. I. District - Inner City . Berger, Horn / Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-85028-366-6 , p. 338 .
  6. ↑ Bundesdenkmalamt (Ed.): Dehio-Handbuch Wien. I. District - Inner City . Berger, Horn / Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-85028-366-6 , p. 338-339 .

Coordinates: 48 ° 12 ′ 23 "  N , 16 ° 21 ′ 33"  E