Vienna City Museum
Projects to build a Vienna City Museum named after Emperor Franz Joseph were discussed intensively in the first two decades of the 20th century, first with regard to Karlsplatz, later with regard to the derelict area of the Schmelz , but Vienna remained undeveloped .
Karlsplatz location
In 1900 Otto Wagner presented a so-called “agitation project” concerning a city museum on Karlsplatz, which was exhibited during the Secession . On May 7, 1901, the Vienna City Council then announced an architecture competition - there was a preliminary competition in late autumn 1901, and a closer competition in spring 1902. Friedrich Schachner's conventionally historicist project was awarded a prize. Thereupon a tug-of-war "hie Wagner - hie Schachner" began with active participation of the public interested in art. In the spring of 1903 two plastic models were made and put on public display, but this did nothing to defuse the contradictions. The mayor of Vienna, Karl Lueger , who was well-disposed towards Otto Wagner but was keen on his popularity, worked and kept a low profile. In a press conference on November 3, 1907, he praised Wagner's project, for example, but spoke out against a facade in the style of the Post Office Savings Bank . Thereupon Princess Pauline Metternich mobilized conservative members of the high nobility against the project, whose petition received 6,000 support signatures within a short time. On October 22, 1909, Lueger declared that he was personally advocating Schmelz as the building site for the Kaiser Franz Josef City Museum. In January 1910, however, a Wagnerian facade segment in original size was erected on Karlsplatz. After Lueger's death, the local council decided on July 14, 1911 to build the city museum on the Schmelz.
Location Schmelz
The Schmelz served the Vienna garrison as a parade ground that stretched westward from the former line wall . From 1911 it was released for construction in the eastern areas ( Schmelzer Friedhof , today March Park and Wiener Stadthalle ). For the architects, Schmelz was the ideal building site, as there were no buildings that they had to take into account in their planning and enough space for more extensive projects.
On February 27, 1911, a council committee decided to set up the city museum on the Schmelz. The architectural competition announced in 1912 was free for all “German-Austrian” architects.
Project by Franz Schwarz
On Otto Wagner's recommendation , Franz Schwarz planned the city museum on the Schmelz in connection with a new academy of fine arts as a fantasy training .
The academy building was intended to be perpendicular to Kandlgasse, which served as the axis for the planned facility. The pavilions for the sculpture and painting schools were connected to this.
On the city-side front, the two museum wings - which were dedicated to art and trade - were in front, so that a courtyard resulted. The entrances to the museums were provided on their narrow sides.
Schwarz's plans also took into account the planned construction of the resting place of the knights of the Maria Theresa Order . For this project, the Wagner student received the Hagenmüller Prize in 1911, a prize from the academy.
Architectural competition 1912
Otto Wagner ("Opus IV")
Otto Wagner's “Opus IV” project showed a symmetrical structure ( the extended Kandlgasse as the axis of symmetry ), which formed a courtyard on its city-side front. This project also took into account the planned construction of a resting place for the knights of the order.
For this project, Wagner was awarded 1st place by the jury headed by Mayor Richard Weiskirchner on March 4, 1913, out of 40 submitted projects, but the project "Platzgestaltung" was supposed to be implemented.
Karl Hoffmann and Emil Tranquillini ("Platzgestaltung")
The duo of Karl Hoffmann and Emil Tranquillini achieved second first place with their project.
They designed an asymmetrical building that was to be built around five courtyards of different sizes.
In deciding which of the two victorious projects should actually be implemented, the Vienna City Council endorsed a report by Eugen Probst (Director of the Municipal Collections) and Urban Planning Director Heinrich Goldemund and commissioned Karl Hoffmann and Emil Tranquillini to prepare the detailed plans. These are documented until 1917.
On September 30, 1921, the city council decided not to build the Vienna City Museum on the Schmelz.
literature
- The Unbuilt Vienna, Projects for the Metropolis 1800–2000 Catalog Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien, Vienna 1999