Vienna City Hall — Attraction in Vienna

By the mid 19th century, the offices in the old Vienna town hall, dedicated by the Austrian duke Frederick the Fair in 1316 and rebuilt by the Baroque architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach around 1700, had become too small. When the lavish Ringstraße was laid out in the 1860s, a competition to build a new city hall was initiated, won by the German architect Friedrich Schmidt.

Mayor Cajetan Felder urged for the location on the boulevard where simultaneously numerous representative buildings were erected, such as the Vienna State Opera, the Austrian Parliament Building, the main building of the Vienna University, or the Burgtheater. Construction costs amounted to a total of about 14 million gulden, borne by both the City of Vienna and the Imperial-Royal (k.k.) government after lengthy debate.

The design of the richly adorned facade is modeled on the Gothic architecture of Flemish and Brabant secular buildings like the Brussels Town Hall. It features five towers including the central tower with a height of 98 m (322 ft). On 21 October 1882, the Rathausmann statue was installed on the top, which soon became one of the symbols of Vienna. The structure itself, spread over an area of 19,592 m2 (210,890 sq ft), is arranged around seven inner-courtyards, more along Baroque lines. A total space of about 113,000 m2 (1,220,000 sq ft) is spread over six floors and two basements with 1,575 rooms. It is largely built with bricks decorated with limestone, mainly from the Leitha Mountains, and ashlar masonry.

The Rathaus also accommodates the historic 'Wiener Rathauskeller' restaurant. The traditional restaurant consists of several baroque halls, offering small traditional Viennese delicacies to grand gala buffets.

Facing the city hall is the large...

Not far from the Austrian Parliament, situated on Rathausplatz is Neues Rathuas (Town Hall), which is one of the most beautiful buildings in the city, particularly at night when the facade is illuminated with floodlights.

Built by Friedrich von Schmidt in 1883 in Gothic style, Rathaus is just a lovely building to see. The facade with its vaulted arches, statues, bell tower and minor towers make a lovely views and good reason to snap off a few pictures with your camera. We enjoy seeing Rathaus during the day with blue skies behind it. However, at night the building is stunning when it is lit by floodlights. This is when we most enjoy seeing Rathaus.

If you visit during the winter months, you can also see a ice skating rink and skating trail that weaves through Rathausplatz, just in front of Rathaus building. A Christmas market is also held at this spot during the holiday season, making it particularly nice to visit then.

Overall, we very much like the Rathaus building and have enjoyed seeing it several times during trips to Vienna. Combined with other impressive attractions in the area like the Parliament Building, Burgtheatre, Volksgarten and nearby Kuntsthistorisches, Naturhistorisches and Museum Quarter museums, this is a lovely building to see when you...

is the seat of local government of Vienna, located on Rathausplatz in the Innere Stadt district. Constructed from 1872 to 1883 in a Neo-Gothic style according to plans designed by Friedrich von Schmidt, it houses the office of the Mayor of Vienna as well as the chambers of the city council and Vienna Landtag diet.

The design of the richly adorned facade is modelled on the Gothic architecture of Flemish and Brabant secular buildings like the Brussels Town Hall. It features five towers including the central tower with a height of 98 m (322 ft). On 21 October 1882, the Rathausmann statue was installed on the top, which soon became one of the symbols of Vienna.

The Rathaus also accommodates the historic 'Wiener Rathauskeller' restaurant. The traditional restaurant consists of several baroque halls, offering small traditional Viennese delicacies to grand gala buffets.

Facing the city hall is the...