Ringturm

Ringturm (Ring Tower) is a prominent skyscraper in Vienna, Austria, and is the headquarters of the Vienna Insurance Group. It was built from 1953 to 1955 after a design by Erich Boltenstern at the Schottenring. The tower is tall, with of office space, and is the second highest building within the Vienna Ringstraße, after the Stephansdom. It is a venue for architecture exhibitions, and is known for being turned into a piece of art annually, wrapped in cloth designed by notable artists including Robert Hammerstiel, Xenia Hausner, Arnulf Rainer and Mihael Milunović.
History
The Ringturm tower was built from 1953 to 1955 after a design by at the Schottenring, part of the Vienna Ringstraße. The tower of was an innovative project when Vienna was reconstructed after World War II. The building was erected on a property that held the only building of the Schottenring demolished in the war. At 23 floors, it is the second highest building within the Vienna Ringstraße, after the Stephansdom. The building has of office space, and is the headquarters of the Vienna Insurance Group. It also houses offices of the . The facade and some other parts were reconstructed in 1996.
Name
The name was found by a competition. It was chosen from 6,502 suggestions, including City-Haus, Gutwill-Haus, Haus der Gegenseitigkeit, Hoch-Eck, Neues Hochhaus and Sonnblick-Haus.
Weather beacon
On top of the tower is a weather beacon (Wetterleuchtturm) in height. Its 117 lamps (39 white, red and green) indicate weather predictions for the following day by partly blinking and moving combinations. It is connected to the ZAMG (Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik), the centre for weather forecast on the Hohe Warte. The top has two aircraft warning lights.
Beacon indicators
red lights increasing in luminosity = rising temperature
red lights decreasing in luminosity = falling temperature
green lights increasing in luminosity = improving weather
green lights decreasing in luminosity = worsening weather
green lights with uniform luminosity = steady weather
red lights blinking = storm warning
white lights blinking = snow or black ice
Exhibition and events
Beginning in 1998, architectural exhibitions have been displayed in the entrance hall free of charge. A series Architektur im Ringturm is focused on architecture of Austria, Central Europe and Eastern Europe. Regular television series of the ORF have been produced in the building, including with Helmut Zilk and .
Ringturmverhüllung
Since 2006, the Ringturm has been transformed into a piece of art each summer by being wrapped in cloth designed by prominent artists from Austria and Eastern Europe. The cloth consists of 30 pieces, each wide and long.
The projects have included:
2006: Don Giovanni by (on the occasion of a Mozart year)
2007: Turm des Lebens by Robert Hammerstiel
2008: Turm in Blüte by
2011: Familiensinn by Xenia Hausner
2012: Gesellschaft by from Hungary
2013: Verbundenheit by Dorota Sadovská from Serbia
2014: Schleier der Agnes by Arnulf Rainer, 16 June to 17 September, for the first time with an exhibition
2015: Sommerfreuden by Tanja Deman from Croatia
2016: Sorgenfrei by Ivan Exner from the Czech Republic
2017: Weitblick (Vision) by Mihael Milunović from Serbia
2018: I Saw This by Gottfried Helnwein
2019: Zukunftsträume by Daniela Kostova from Bulgaria
2020: no wrapping due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2022: With One Other by Dóra Maurer
References
Further reading
Adolph Stiller: Der Ringturm. 5 Jahrzehnte Baugeschichte eines Hochhauses . Verlag Anton Pustet, Salzburg 1998, .
Wiener Städtische Versicherung (ed.): 50 Jahre Ringturm. Von Österreich ins geeinte Europa: Unternehmenssitz – Menschen – Geschichte . Echomedia, Wien, 2005, .
External links
Foto: Ringturm in Bau (image from during construction), Vienna, 2005
Daniela Hahn: Wiener Hochhausarchitektur, Universität Wien 2011
History Vienna Insurance Group
Buildings and structures completed in the 1950s
Buildings and structures in Innere Stadt
Skyscrapers in Vienna