Stefanie Jäger

A Greek Temple on Vienna’s Ringstraße! 👍🏛️
A golden goddess outside, grand columns and cosy reading nooks inside: Theophil Hansen’s masterpiece from top to bottom. 
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Every time I walk along the Ringstraße, Vienna’s Parliament Building stops me in my tracks. Danish architect Theophil Hansen had studied and worked in Athens, and you can feel it everywhere. He even designed the furniture, chandeliers and paintings himself. Fun fact: Hansen wanted the facade in colour, the way ancient temples once were. People found that too much, so to his annoyance it stayed marble white.
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Pics 1 & 2: The goddess at the front
Pallas Athena, goddess of wisdom, stands on a fluted column with a golden helmet, a spear in her left hand and a little golden Nike in her right. Hansen sketched the fountain back in 1870, but it was only built from 1898 to 1902, years after his death. Everything is carved from white Lasa marble from South Tyrol. The four reclining figures at her feet stand for four big rivers: Danube, Inn, Elbe and Vltava.
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Pic 3: The Hall of Columns
24 columns, each cut from a single block of Salzburg marble and weighing around 16 tonnes. The capitals shine with 23-carat gold leaf. The hall covers almost 1,000 m², and it’s just one of 1,600 rooms in the building.
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Pics 4 to 12: The old library
My favourite part. The dark wooden shelves were designed by Hansen himself and are listed today. Between rows of leather-bound volumes, glowing neon letters and bright yellow reading nooks with red and mustard armchairs make the 19th century feel brand new. Around 400,000 books live here. Sweet detail: a staff member collected everything visitors left behind in books, from postcards to train tickets, now displayed at the entrance.
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Pic 13 to 15: Back in the entrance hall
Above the grand staircase float eleven mirror discs by artist Eva Schlegel, each 1.4 metres wide. A breeze slowly turns them.
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Pic 16 & 17: One last look outside.
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Would you rather sit in the Hall of Columns or in one of those yellow reading nooks? Tell me in the comments, and save this post for your next Vienna trip!
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#viennaarchitecture #theophilhansen #ringstrasse #historicism #architecturephotographer
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