page_title: Vienna Ring Road
section_title: Buildings
hierarchical_section_title: Vienna Ring Road / Buildings
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Burgring in Wien 1 bei der Babenbergerstraße Richtung Nordwesten
context_page_description: The Ringstrasse is a circular grand boulevard that serves as a ring road around the historic Innere Stadt district of Vienna, Austria. The road is located on sites where medieval city fortifications once stood, including high walls and the broad open field ramparts, criss-crossed by paths that lay before them.
  It was constructed after the dismantling of the city walls in the mid-19th century. From the 1860s to 1890s, many large public buildings were erected along the Ringstrasse in an eclectic historicist style, sometimes called Ringstraßenstil, using elements of Classical, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque architecture.
  Because of its architectural beauty and history, the Vienna Ringstrasse has been called the "Lord of the Ring Roads" and is designated by UNESCO as part of Vienna's World Heritage Site.
context_section_description: Many of the buildings that line the Ringstraße date back to the time before 1870. The following are some of the more notable buildings:
  Vienna State Opera (formerly K.u.K. Hofoper) in neo-romantic style by August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll
  Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
  Palace of Justice
  Austrian Parliament Building, in neo-attic style (a reference to the democracy of ancient Athens) by Theophil Freiherr von Hansen,
  Rathaus (Town Hall) in Flemish-gothic style by Friedrich Schmidt,
  Burgtheater (formerly K.u.K. Hofburgtheater) by Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer,
  University of Vienna, in neo-renaissance style (a reference to the beginnings of the university system in northern Italy),
  Votivkirche, in neo-gothic style (a reference to the gothic Cathedrals of France) by Heinrich Freiherr von Ferstel
  Wiener Börse (Vienna Stock Exchange)
  Urania observatory
  Österreichische Postsparkasse (Postal Savings Bank), in Jugendstil by Otto Wagner
  Museum für Angewandte Kunst (Museum of Applied Arts) in neo-renaissance style by Heinrich Freiherr von Ferstel
  Hotel Imperial (formerly Palais Württemberg)
  Palais Schey von Koromla
  Palais Ephrussi
  The only sacred building on the boulevard is the Votivkirche, which was built in dedication after Emperor Franz Joseph had survived an assassination attempt in 1853.
  The Winter Palace or Hofburg was extended by an annex, the Neue Hofburg (New Hofburg), which houses the Museum of Ethnology and the Austrian National Library today. On the other side of the boulevard, there are the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History) and the Naturhistorisches Museum (Museum of Natural History), which were built for the imperial collections. Originally, there should have been a parallel wing opposite the Neue Hofburg, which would have been located across the Ringstrasse from the Museum of Natural History. Together with the Heldenplatz and the Maria-Theresien-Platz this plan would have constituted the  Imperial Forum/Kaiserforum. However, that plan was shelved for lack of funds.
  The construction ended only in 1913 with the completion of the Kriegsministerium (Imperial and Royal Ministry of War). At that time, the Ringstraßenstil was already somewhat outdated, as is shown by the Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) inspired Postsparkassengebäude (Postal Savings Society Building) by Otto Wagner opposite the ministry building, which was built at the same time.
  The Ringstraße was also generously planned with green spaces and trees, the most notable parks being the Stadtpark with the Kursalon, Burggarten, Volksgarten, and Rathauspark, as well as a number of squares such as the Schwarzenbergplatz, Schillerplatz, Maria-Theresien-Platz and Heldenplatz. Dotted along the Ringstraße are various monuments. They include statues to Goethe, Schiller, Empress Maria Theresia, Prince Eugene of Savoy, Archduke Charles of Austria, the founders of the First Austrian Republic, Athena, Andreas von Liebenberg, Count Radetzky, Georg Coch, and Johann Strauss amongst many.
  The biggest catastrophe was the fire of the Ringtheater in 1881, in which several hundred people died. It was subsequently demolished and replaced by the emperor's charity building, the Sühnhof, which was built in memory of the more than 300 victims, and inaugurated by Emperor Franz Joseph I. It was destroyed during the bombing of Vienna in 1945; today the municipal police-headquarters is there.
  Other buildings that were destroyed or heavily damaged during World War II was the Opera House, the opposite building Heinrichshof which was replaced in the 1950s with the Kärtnerhof. The Urania observatory, the Kriegsministerium and the Parliament building were heavily damaged, and the Burgtheater burned down. The famous Hotel Metropole, which was located at the Franz-Joseph-Kai, was completely destroyed and replaced with a monument to the victims of Nazism.
caption: Burgring with the Museum of Natural History to the left
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