Rotunda (Vienna)

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The building at the time of the world exhibition

The rotunda in Vienna was a domed structure that was erected on the former park area in Vienna's Prater on the occasion of the 1873 World's Fair . In its time it was by far the largest dome in the world (diameter 108 m). The rotunda surpassed the Pantheon in Rome , built from 118–125 AD (diameter 43.4 m); It was only exceeded in 1957 by a trade fair hall in Belgrade (diameter 109 m).

The building fell victim to a major fire in 1937.

construction

The rotunda during construction, 1872

It was a steel structure partially clad with wood and plaster . The dome height was 84 meters, the base diameter 108 meters. The trimmed conical roof , particularly noticeable through radial rafters and concentric rings, rested on 32 iron columns, two stacked stepped lanterns formed the upper end. The lower one functioned as a viewing gallery, the upper one carried a gold-plated, stone-covered, four-meter-high replica of the imperial crown . The circular central building was square enclosed by four 190 meter long galleries ; four wide halls connected the domed structure and galleries. The main portal was shaped like a triumphal arch and was decorated with half-columns and figurative representations. Emperor Franz Joseph's motto “Viribus Unitis” (With united forces) was placed under the gable . The Scottish shipbuilding engineer John Scott Russell provided the first plans . With modified drafts, the project was realized under the direction of the architect Carl von Hasenauer , where he worked with Johann Caspar Harkort V, a member of the Duisburg steel dynasty Harkort , among others .

The interior had an area of ​​around 8,000 m² and served as a central meeting point for visitors and official events during the world exhibition. Austrian and German exhibitions were also housed here.

The Austrian imperial crown at the top of the rotunda towered over the entire World Exhibition Grounds, symbolically placing the event under imperial protection.

history

The opening ceremony (drawing by Vinzenz Katzler )
The monumental interior

On May 1, 1873, the opening of the world exhibition took place in the still unfinished building. Rainfalls that started days before the opening and transformed the Prater into a swamp, persistent unfavorable weather conditions, but above all the stock market crash of May 9, 1873 and the subsequent economic crisis put a heavy damper on the optimistic expectations of the world exhibition. A cholera epidemic in the slums of Vienna resulted in a further decline in visitors. Instead of the expected 20 million visitors, only 7.2 million came. The deficit of the world exhibition was about 15 million guilders . There was no financial means for the originally planned demolition of the building.

The World Exhibition Grounds 1873 from the air

In 1877 part of the rotunda was used as a warehouse by the City of Vienna. One year later, the entire rotunda was used as a warehouse. Only then was it used for commercial events. The building, which was initially rejected by architects, was enthusiastically received by the visitors. In the following decades, the rotunda developed into a Viennese landmark and hosted festive events, circus performances and large exhibitions, such as:

The building was owned by the Obersthofmeisteramt and was administered by an inspectorate based in the rotunda. During the First World War, the rotunda was used by the military as a "convalescent collection point". From 1920 it was again available for events. After August 11, 1921, when the first Vienna International Fair opened , the rotunda was the exhibition center twice a year.

In 1936, the City of Vienna examined new uses, and Clemens Holzmeister was commissioned to draw up a proposal for converting the rotunda for the State Archives.

Fire in the rotunda on September 17, 1937
Fire in the rotunda on September 17, 1937

fire

For a long time, the building was considered to be risky in terms of fire, as can be seen from the instructions of the respective fire safety guards during the various events. The main building caught fire on September 17, 1937. It was reported independently via two fire detectors from different locations at 12:36 p.m. While the fire was not perceptible as a major fire from the outside, it spread quickly in the cavities between the stucco and the outer sheet metal cladding. It started from one of the supporting dome columns. The first fire-fighting teams reached the scene of the fire at 12:55 p.m., which could only be reached via a staircase at a height of 15 to 18 m.

The sheet metal clad roof parts prevented extinguishing water from reaching the burning wooden parts in sufficient quantities. The dome, in which 400 tons of wood were built, burned down quickly. At 1.30 p.m., the fire fighting teams had to retreat on the orders of fire director König, as there was a risk of collapse. In fact, the dome collapsed three minutes later, pushing the flames into the side buildings. From this point on, the fire brigade could only carry out its extinguishing work from the outside, as it was no longer possible to enter the building. The last corner tower burned down by evening. Secondary fires caused by flying sparks also had to be extinguished, because a warehouse, the roofs of some residential buildings and the exercise tower of the company's own fire station in the Prater also caught fire. To support the fire brigade, not only teams were called up on duty, but soldiers of the 5th Infantry Regiment were also called in. Fire guards were on duty until September 18, and the clean-up work did not begin until September 22.

The Kleine Blatt of September 18, 1937 reported with the headline Vienna no longer has a rotunda! and a series of pictures about the dramatic course of the fire disaster. The fire of the Viennese rotunda is one of the biggest fire disasters in Vienna and meant serious economic damage and the loss of an important cultural site for the city of Vienna.

Post-war and present

From 1950 the main building (south portal) of the Messe Wien was located at the point of the rotunda northwest of the Krieau harness racing track , which was demolished in 2001. Today there is a parking garage and buildings on the WU campus of the Vienna University of Economics and Business, which was newly built in 2013 .

Remembering the rotunda

In Leopoldstadt, numerous traffic routes are still reminiscent of the Rotunda: Rotunda Bridge , Exhibition Street, Kaiserallee, Rotunda Allee, Rotundenplatz, Südportalstraße, Nordportalstraße, Perspektivstraße and access road, as well as the Rotunda stop of the Liliputbahn .

The building itself was very thoroughly demolished, only a few artifacts remained, some of which are in the Prater Museum. The Franz-Joseph-Brunnen , which was once in the center of the domed hall of the rotunda, was bought by the Graz city government in 1874 and has been in the Graz city park ever since . An almost four meter high lamp from the rotunda was (probably illegally) removed from the rubble; Today it is in the courtyard of the house at Döblinger Hauptstrasse 92, the "Eroica House".

  • Plaque on the Rotunda Bridge

  • City park fountain in Graz

  • Lamp of the rotunda in Döblinger Hauptstrasse

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Haider: Lost splendor. Stories of destroyed buildings .
  2. ^ Pemsel: The Vienna World Exhibition of 1873. P. 32 f.
  3. ^ Pemsel: The Vienna World Exhibition of 1873. P. 40 f.
  4. ↑ Georg Markus : It's only available from us, Amazing stories from Austria, Amalthea Verlag Vienna 2018, ISBN 978-3-99050-074-3 .
  5. ↑ Mailbox - A Daily Reader. In:  Die Zeit , October 5, 1904, p. 8 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / zei
  6. ↑ Camilleri (Red.): World exhibit. Schauplatz Wien 1873. P. 101 ff.
  7. ↑ The biggest fire since the Ringtheater disaster. In:  Das Kleine Blatt , No. 280/1937 (XI. Volume), September 18, 1937, p. 2. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / dkb.
  8. ↑ Vienna no longer has a rotunda !. In:  Das Kleine Blatt , No. 280/1937 (XI. Volume), September 18, 1937, p. 1. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / dkb.

literature

  • Winter velodrome combined with an international sports exhibition in the rotunda of the kk Prater in Vienna. Program for the XVII. On Sunday, March 7th, 1897. Penultimate Cross [sic!] International cycling competitions . Publishing house of the Winter Velodrom, Vienna 1897.
  • Rudolf F. Pozděna: The Foucault pendulum experiment as the most obvious proof of the axis rotation of the earth. Executed in the kk rotunda of the world exhibition building in Vienna from October 3 to 11, 1903 . Publishing house of the Austrian Leo Society , Vienna 1903.
  • Josef Gally (Ed.): Official catalog of the (...) General Hygienic Exhibition Vienna Rotunda 1906 . Second edition. Publishing house of the exhibition management, Vienna 1906.
  • Josef Kratky: On a Prater bench. very close to the rotunda. Wienerlied. Text: Rudolf Hoffmann and Otto Rejzek. (Vocals, piano) . Edition Bristol, No. 253, 2 parts. Edition Bristol, Vienna / Berlin / New York 1937. (music print).
  • Karl Michael May: The song of the rotunda. Words: Peter Heart . (Singing, Schrammel Quartet . Voices) . Verlag Josef Blaha, No. 8293, 5 votes. Blaha, Vienna / Leipzig 1937. (printed music).
  • Hermann Steinitz: There is no more rotunda in the Prater. Wienerlied. Words: Ernst Binder. (Vocals, piano) . Phöbus-Verlag, No. 838. 3 votes. Phöbus, Vienna 1937/38. (Music printing).
  • Jutta Pemsel: The Vienna World Exhibition of 1873. Wilhelminian Vienna at the turning point . Böhlau-Verlag, Vienna / Cologne 1989, ISBN 3-205-05247-1 .
  • Edgard Haider: Lost splendor. Stories of destroyed buildings . Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 2006, ISBN 3-8067-2949-2 (Chapter: Rotunda, Vienna. Industrial palace for the first world exhibition in the German-speaking area. Pp. 104-108).
  • Carla Camilleri (Red.): Exhibiting the world. Schauplatz Wien 1873. An exhibition by the Technisches Museum Wien, October 28, 2004 to February 27, 2005. Catalog . Ed .: Technisches Museum Wien. ISBN 3-902183-10-1 (contributions by: Ulrike Felber, Manuela Fellner-Feldhaus and Elke Krasny , German / English).
  • Johann Hödl: The trade fair and exhibition system in Vienna - from the rotunda to the subway. In: The U2 line. History, technology, future. Wiener Linien GmbH & Co KG (ed.). Vienna 2008, ISBN 978-3-200-01124-3 , pp. 70-77.
  • Stefan Konrath: The heap of tin in Vienna. A study of the economic and cultural-historical importance of the Vienna Rotunda . Thesis. University of Vienna, Vienna 2008. (full text online, PDF; 10.19 MB) .

Web links

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

Coordinates: 48 ° 12 ′ 44 ″  N , 16 ° 24 ′ 34 ″  E