Rathausmann (Vienna)

High above Vienna: the Rathausmann

The Rathausmann standing on the middle tower of the new Vienna City Hall is a symbol for the city of Vienna .

At the request of Emperor Franz Joseph I, the tallest of the five towers of the New Town Hall was not allowed to tower over the towers of the nearby Votive Church (99 meters). The architect Friedrich von Schmidt formally bowed to the imperial request and built a tower only 98 meters high. However, he then placed the figure of a knight with a standard on the top of the tower and so still crossed the limit imposed on him. On October 21, 1882, to conclude the topping-out ceremony, the town hall man was brought to his place high above Vienna with the help of winches and a locomobile .

Manufacturing

The copy in front of the town hall

The copy and the original

The town hall man is a gift from the locksmith Ludwig Wilhelm to the city of Vienna. The design comes from Friedrich von Schmidt, the plaster model from the artist Franz Gastell . Armor from Emperor Maximilian I served as a model for the armor . Russian copper coins were melted down and in 1882 the art locksmith Alexander Nehr made the 3.4 meter high knight from 4 mm in four months in Ludwig Wilhelm's workshop in Hahngasse 8-10 strong copper sheet (total height with flag 5.4 meters, total weight 1800 kg), which is supported by a steel frame inside.

The figure is attached to the base with 75 kg screws, on which three names and the date are immortalized: Wilhelm Ludwig, master locksmith, Alexander Nehr, foreman, modeled Franz Gastell. 21. X. 1882. Since the top of the tower is almost constantly exposed to fluctuations and the standard of the town hall man swings out by up to 25 cm in a storm, the construction requires special security. This consists of an 8 m long and 16 cm thick iron rod, which leads from the inner supporting structure of the figure through the spire into the tower and at the end of which a cast iron ball weighing 800 kg is attached. This pendulum maintains balance and secures the town hall man from falling.

In 1985 the town hall tower was renovated. On this occasion, the Rathausmann was removed and restored in the Wiener Gaswerke workshop ; a copy was made on this occasion. The square of the original has been at the top again since September 22, 1985, its image stands on a stone plinth in the southern part of the Rathauspark on Rathausplatz.

symbol

Gilded and much smaller and lighter, it serves as an award for people with special merits under the name Goldener Rathausmann . Even smaller and as a pin, it served as a May badge at the traditional May march of the Viennese Social Democrats on Rathausplatz . The “Citizens' Service of the City of Vienna” uses the town hall man portrayed as a radiant hero as a logo on brochures, posters and information brochures.

literature

• Felix Czeike: The town hall . Zsolnay, Vienna 1972.
• Rudolf Schlauer: Meeting the Vienna City Hall man . Compress-Verlag, Vienna 1985.
• Felix Czeike (Ed.): Historisches Lexikon Wien . Volume 4, Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1995, ISBN 3-218-00546-9 , p. 637.

Web links

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

• suf.at - Town Hall and Town Hall Man

newspaper reports

• The town hall festival. In:  Neue Freie Presse , October 22, 1882, p. 5 (online at ANNO ). and p. 6
• The standard bearer of the new town hall. In:  Kikeriki , October 22, 1882, p. 1 (online at ANNO ).
• Vienna's standard bearer celebrates. In:  Wiener Bilder , October 23, 1932, p. 8 (online at ANNO ).

Individual evidence

1. ^ The town hall festival. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Abendblatt, October 21, 1882, p. 1 (online at ANNO ).

Coordinates: 48 ° 12 ′ 39 ″  N , 16 ° 21 ′ 29 ″  E