Archduke Wilhelm's Palace

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Archduke Wilhelm's Palace
Archduke Wilhelm's Palace
Archduke Wilhelm's palace, grand staircase
Palais Erzherzog Wilhelm, former ballroom (today OFID meeting room)

The Palais Erzherzog Wilhelm (also: Deutschmeister -Palais ) is a historic building on Vienna's Ringstrasse built by the Danish-Austrian architect Theophil von Hansen from 1864 to 1868 .

history

The four-story building at Parkring 8 was one of the earliest Ringstrasse buildings. The builder was Archduke Wilhelm (1827-1894), Grand Master of the Teutonic Order . In 1870 the Archduke sold the palace to the Deutschmeister. From 1938 to 1945 it was the seat of the Vienna SS headquarters , from 1945 to 1974 it served as the Vienna Federal Police Directorate . In 1981 the building, which had been vacant since 1975, was acquired by the OPEC Fund ( OFID ) and extensively redesigned by the architects Georg Lippert until 1983. The representative rooms were brought closer to their original state, but the attic was expanded , which in fact amounted to an increase in storeys .

description

The palace is one of the most important and, thanks to the exemplary restoration, one of the best preserved Ringstrasse palaces. The building is divided into a five-storey central projection and side wings that are one storey lower. In a two-storey, square base zone, three high arched portals lead to the two-flight grand staircase and on to the former stables. The risalit on the piano nobile is adorned with an Ionic colonnade with a balustrade. On the side facade are fluted pilasters with Ionic capitals between the window axes. The windows are suspected of having triangular gables on consoles. A continuous frieze on the attic floor shows the coats of arms of the grand masters of the order. Six heralds of the order carry the richly cranked and trophy-studded pedestals of a balustrade. On the pedestals of the balustrade of the side wings are six statues of order grandmasters, created by Josef Gasser . The back of the Palais on Cobdengasse is very simple in contrast to the front side on Parkring.

Inside, there is a particularly richly decorated salon with two dark green marble columns as room dividers, black marble plinth and pink wall panels, as well as a coffered ceiling and the dining room with adjoining buffet. Four pillars create a visual separation between the buffet and the dining room, which has a particularly festive effect with its black and red marbled base and white fields between Corinthian, gold-plated pilasters. The frieze zone is decorated with the coats of arms of the grand masters on a black background and gilded tendril motifs. The conclusion is a richly gilded coffered ceiling.

literature

Web links

Commons : Palais Erzherzog Wilhelm  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 48 ° 12 ′ 22.1 ″  N , 16 ° 22 ′ 43.9 ″  E