Austrian Parliament Building

Building of Austrian Parliament was built between 1874 and 1883 by the architect Theophil Hansen. This building is built in expressively Neo-Classic style inspired by the ancient Greco-Roman Architecture. Statue of ancient Greek goddess Athena standing at the fountain was built by Hansen in 1898-1902. Building was badly damaged during WW II but restored during post war period in second half of XX century. This building is one of “must see” places at Vienna.
Guided tours are available from Monday through Saturday. About time of guided tours and days when tours are unavailable check the official site of Austrian Parliament. General admission is 5 Euros.

Tel. +43 1 401 100

On one sunny morning in January I passed by Austrian Parliament building. I had my camera with me and took some photos of that magnificent building. In different weather condition that building looks absolutely different. Parliament was sunlit and building seemed as if it was made out of the pure gold. Such views make human soul cheerful and singing. Parliament is looks absolutely different on gloomy and foggy days.
Guided tours are available from Monday through Saturday. About time of guided tours and days when tours are unavailable check the official site of Austrian Parliament. General admission is 5 Euros.

Tel. +43 1 401 100

On one foggy morning in January I passed by Austrian Parliament building. I had my camera with me and took some photos of that magnificent building. In different weather condition that building looks absolutely different. Parliament looked even more magnificent and even strict and impregnable on that gloomy and misty morning in January.
Guided tours are available from Monday through Saturday. About time of guided tours and days when tours are unavailable check the official site of Austrian Parliament. General admission is 5 Euros.

Tel. +43 1 401 100

Austrian Parliament building is magnificent during the day time and at any weather. During the night and late evening it is well illuminated and tourists have good opportunities to get excellent night photos. During the night Parliament looks like the palace from the fairy tale. So, don’t miss your chance and come here when it will be dark.
Guided tours are available from Monday through Saturday. About time of guided tours and days when tours are unavailable check the official site of Austrian Parliament. General admission is 5 Euros.

Tel. +43 1 401 100

The Austrian Parliament Building is an impressive looking building located on the ring. It is where the two houses of the Austrian Parliament carry out their sessions. The parliament building was completed in 1883. It was designed by Theophil Hansen. It was badly damaged during World War II, but has been restored.

The Pallas Athena fountain stands in front of the parliament's main entrance. This was also built by Hansen. It was completed in 1902.

An Imperial Commission under Emperor Franz Joseph I decided in 1857 that the building’s style should be classical and choose classical Greek architecture as appropriate for the Parliament, since the ideal of democracy is connected to the Ancient Greeks.
Democracy under the Empire was a more difficult task than to build (architect Baron von Hansen) a construction inspired by the Zappeion in Athens.

Indeed in 1867 with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise, Hungary obtained autonomy and the Empire became the kaiserliche und königliche Monarchie Österreich-Ungarn (Austro-Hungarian monarchy or k.u.k. Monarchy) also called Doppelmonarchie.

Can you imagine that Emperor and King Franz Joseph I reigned over a multinational realm comprising modern-day Austria, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, large parts of Serbia and Romania and smaller parts of Italy, Montenegro, Poland and Ukraine with 12 official languages! Emperor Franz Joseph spoke German, Hungarian and Czech fluently, and Polish and Italian to some degree.
All these ethnies were not really in love with each other. For example Hungary and Austria had separate parliaments. Furthermore there were political struggles between conservatives and liberals.

The dual monarchy dissolved on 31 October 1918. Austria and Hungary became republics. But this is the start of another story.
The building housed the first form of a parliamentary system for much of the people of Central Europe and is a success of the 19th century Classic revival.
The fact that the statue of Athena has her back turned to the building was explained by a joke: the Goddess was disgusted by the political infighting at the parliament!

There are public guided tours for individual visitors in both English and German language from Monday to Saturday at specific times. See the website: www.parlament.gv.at
No prior appointment is necessary.

It was wow! This is an impressive building!

It is one of the many monumental buildings located on the Ringstrasse, five of them designed by Theofil von Hansen. This was one of them, and it is a beauty!
Hansen had studied architecture in Athens and obviously had Athens and Greece on his mind when designing Parliament House.
The neoclassical architecture is obviously Greek in appearance. Built between 1874 and 1884, it has eight monumental Corinthian columns in the centre, then another six on either end. On the tympanum are sculptures depicting Franz Joseph granting his subjects a constitution.

Wide ramps lead to the portico. At the foot of the ramps are statues and ones of the Horse Tamers.

Eight more statues on the balustrades show historians from the Antiquity: four Greek historians on the left ramp and four Roman historians on the right ramp. The building is decorated on all sides with more than 100 statues and friezes and four sculpture groups of chariot riders adorn the roof of the Parlament.

A MUST SEE

GUIDED TOURS ARE AVAILABLE, Please check the website link for times

PRICES FOR GUIDED TOURS
Adults € 5,00
Reduced € 2,50
For persons aged 19 or under FREE admission

Another feature that I really liked at Parliament House, was all the wrought iron figures I found.

It was the ornate Lamp posts that grabbed my attention first!
Three round white balls for light at the top, and then further down the post there were figures surrounding it, then at the next level, cherubs trying to sit on Swans . Below this looks to be Goat heads and then some ornate decoration. At the base are four winged Athenas?

Look at the hand-rail, nothing plain about this one. The posts are figures.
Another to take a look at, is the door handles of Parliament house.

Heading down to bottom at street level, I took a closer look at the two very high poles that were either side of the Fountain. At the very top of each pole, was a golden Eagle. The base was fluted and had Griffins surrounding it, plus some nice reliefs of cherubs.

When at Parliament House, don't walk away without having a good look at the Pallas Athene Fountain. It is situated at the front of Parliament House. Once again, the Greek theme has been continued as it's named after the Greek goddess Pallas Athena - goddess of wisdom - who is standing on top of a fluted column wearing a gilded helmet and armed with a lance.
The two female statues below, represent the legislative and executive powers of the state. At the base are four allegorical statues of the four most important rivers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire: the Danube and the Inn in the front and the Elbe and the Vltava in the back.
The fountain, which was unveiled in 1902, is a beauty!

As I was heading to Parliament House, I stopped for a moment to read about the "monument of the republic."
This monument commemorates the establishment of the Republic of Austria on 12 November 1918 . .

The monument consists of three busts of Social Democrats - Jakob Reumann , Victor Adler and Ferdinand Hanuschplatz, each resting on a pedestal.

Pallas-Athenebrunnen in front of the Parliament portal was erected between 1893and 1902, as a joined work by Carl Kundmann, Josef Tautenhayn and Hugo Haerldt, based on plans by Edvard von Hansen.
In the middle of the fountain is a water basin and the richly decorated base. The four figures, lying at the foot of Athene are allegorical representations of the four most important rivers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At the front is Danube and Inn, in the back the Elbe and Moldau (Vltava). On the sides of the fountain little cupids ride dolphins. The female statues above represents the Legislative and Executive powers of the state.
They are again dominated by the Goddess of Wisdom, Athene, standing on a pillar. Athene is dressed in armour with a gilden helmet, her left hand carries a spear and her right carries Goddess Nike. The statue of Athene is work of the sculptor Carl Kundmann.

The bronze statues of the horse tamers are located at the two lower ends of the ramp. They are powerful symbol of the suppression of passion, which is an important precondition for successful parliamentary cooperation. The statues were designed and executed by J.Lax in 1897 and 1900....