Archduke Ludwig Viktor's palace

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The palace as seen from the Kärntner Ring

The Palais Archduke Ludwig Viktor is one of the most important Ringstrasse palaces . It was built between 1863 and 1866 and is located on Schwarzenbergplatz in Vienna's 1st district on Schubertring / Schwarzenbergplatz 1.

history

Photo montage around 1900

The architect Heinrich Freiherr von Ferstel was commissioned in 1861 to erect a memorial for Prince Schwarzenberg on the glacis and at the same time to create a representative square with the same name. The first building on Schwarzenbergplatz was the palace of Archduke Ludwig Viktor , the youngest brother of Emperor Franz Joseph .

He himself could not use the palace, which was completed in 1866, for long for his extraordinary celebrations, because "Luzi-Wuzi", as he was called by his friends, was banished to Kleßheim Palace in Salzburg because of some scandals that were unpleasant for the court .

In 1910, after a major renovation, the building was made available to the military casino club by Emperor Franz Joseph for "his officers for ever". In 1912 it was the scene of the first carnival ball of the K.Ö.St.V., officially known as the Rudolfina-Redoute . Rudolfina Vienna . After the end of the monarchy , however, there was a legal dispute between the republic and the association, which flared up again after 1945. Since 1975 the palace has housed the military casino of the Austrian Officers' Society . Much later, the decision was made to make the large ballroom available to the Burgtheater as a rehearsal stage and performance location. This is also indicated by the inscription “Burgtheater im Kasino” on the facade. Another part of the interior is now used by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the rooms on the Ringstrasse side are rented to the TGI Friday’s restaurant chain .

architecture

The palace seen from Schwarzenbergplatz

The palace is modeled on the Italian Renaissance style. The main facade is oriented towards Schwarzenbergplatz and is dominated by a broad central projection. The structure of the floors corresponds to the intended use at the time of construction. The rooms on the ground floor were the stables and coach houses thought the carriages, the mezzanine was the living area and the first floor of the ballroom. Above that were the servants' apartments.

The front of the projecting central projection is dominated by the mighty arched windows and the balustrade of the ballroom. In the vertical, the risalit is structured by circumferential rows of columns. On the top floor are the 2 ½ meter high statues of Count Niklas Salm , Count Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg , Ernst Gideon von Laudon , Joseph von Sonnenfels , Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and Prince Eugene of Savoy . They are works by Franz Melnitzky and Josef Gasser .

The coat of arms of Archduke Ludwig Viktor, flanked by caryatids and a triangular gable, completes the central axis.

Burgtheater venue

Although Claus Peymann was already used as a venue for the Burgtheater by the management, the casino on Schwarzenbergplatz only became the central venue of the Austrian National Theater in the Hartmann era (2009–2014). Hartmann himself staged three of his key productions there:

In addition, the productions achieved After the Opera. Würgeengel by Martin Wuttke (based on Luis Buñuel , 2012) and Desireless Misfortune by Katie Mitchell (based on Peter Handke , 2014) great successes with audiences and press.

literature

Web links

Commons : Palais Erzherzog Ludwig Viktor  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 48 ° 12 ′ 4.4 "  N , 16 ° 22 ′ 29.3"  E