St. Stephansdom
Vienna
With its vast roof of glittering polychrome tiles and mighty south tower, St. Stephansdom has become the most recognizable symbol of Vienna.  The original Romanesque basilica on this site was built between 1137-1147.  Friedrich II, the last of the Babenbergs, replaced the original basilica in 1230 – which itself was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1263.  In 1359, Duke Rudolf IV of Habsburg had the cathedral refurbished in the Gothic manner.  It took 100 years for the completion of the vaulting.  St. Georg with the Dragon (above) was finished in 1465.  In 1469, at the request of Emperor Frederick III, the pope raised Vienna to the status of an episcopal city, and St. Stephen’s became a cathedral.  Ironically, St. Stephansdom remains incomplete.  The north tower, begun in 1467, was never finished – work having stopped on it in 1511.  The present high altar was built between 1640-1647 by the brothers Pock.  Johann Jakob Pock was responsible for the marble structure and the sculptures.  Tobias Pock created the altar paintings.  After Mozart’s death, he was brought here, and at 3pm on December 5, 1791, Mozart was blessed and given the funeral rites. He was buried in an unmarked grave.  Most of the statues in this cathedral were created in the 15th century – most of which were donations by private individuals.  Beneath the cathedral rest the remains of the internal organs of the Hapsburgs.  Their hearts are buried at St. Augustine’s Church, and their bodies rest at the Kapuzinergruft.

Copyright © 1999 Richard Jaklitsch

Schmetterlinghaus at the Hofburg
Caligo eurilochus (The Owl Butterfly) from Central & South America.

Copyright © 1999 Richard Jaklitsch

Kaiser Josef II Monument
Josefsplatz in Vienna

Copyright © 1999 Richard Jaklitsch

Hofburg
Evening concerts are held frequently at the Hofburg.  On this evening, the Vienna Philharmonic, with Zubin Mehta conducting, rehearsed in front of the Neue Hofburg.  The full moon overhead and the sounds of Strauss make it easy to understand why some have called Vienna “the most civilized city in the world”.

The Hofburg palace, which is now located between Josefsplatz, Michaelerplatz, and the Burgring, was the seat of government of the Austrian sovereigns from the 13th century, and the German kings and Holy Roman emperors from the 15th century until 1806, and of the emperor of Austria until 1918.  It was originally the new residence of Leopold VI of Babenberg, around the year 1215.  It was also used by King Ottokar II and Rudolf I of Habsburg, and extended and continuously altered over the following centuries.  The palace chapel, which dates back to 1296, was partly rebuilt between 1447-1449.  It is the seat of the Hofmusikkapelle.  The Schweizertrakt received its current form during the Renaissance period.  It includes the Schweizertor Gate between 1552-1553 by P. Ferrabosco, who is believed to have also built the Stallburg Stables for Maximilian II between 1558-1568.  Opposite the Schweizerhof is a late-Renaissance building constructed for Rudolf II, the Amalienburg (named for Amalie Wilhelmine, the wife of Joseph I), which was finished in 1605.  The Innerer Burghof court was used as a tournament and theatre square, and today is dominated by the late-Classicist monument to Emperor Franz I, constructed between 1824-1846 by P. Marchesi.

Over the following centuries, the Schweizertrakt, Stallburg, and Amalienburg were gradually joined with other buildings.  Working from plans by F. Lucchese, C.M. Carlone and D. Carlone renewed the Leopoldinischer Trakt on the southwestern side from 1660-1666.  After a fire, restoration work was performed from 1668-1681, and an additional story was added according to plans by D. Carlone and P. Tencala.  It houses the splendidly decorated rooms inhabited by the Emperor Franz I and Maria Theresia which now constitute the office of the Austrian Federal President.  In 1723, J.L. von Hildebrandt supplied plans for the building of a Reichskanzlei or Imperial Chancellery tract, which was finished in 1730 by J.E. Fischer von Erlach - closing off the Innerer Burghof to the northeast.  It houses the Emperor´s appartments, which are open to the public and furnished with paintings and furniture from between 1820-1900, including the living quarters and state rooms of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth.  It also houses the collection of court table and silverware, as well as the Bundesdenkmalamt (the Federal Office for the Protection of Monuments and Historic Buildings).  Between the Reichskanzlei tract and the Winter Riding School, the Hofburg remained unfinished.  The intended construction of a dome was never realised because the Hofburgtheater was located there.  The plans by J.E. Fischer von Erlach were used by F. Kirschner for the Michaelertrakt, which was built between 1889-1893.  Under its impressive dome, the Hofburg was given a main portal towards the city.

Copyright © 1999 Richard Jaklitsch

From an artistic point of view, the most important part of the Hofburg is the court library, completed by J.E. Fischer von Erlach in 1735 after plans made by his father for Emperor Karl VI in 1735.  The superb façade, behind which is the magnificent library hall, is enclosed by two side wings built by N. Pacassi between 1763-1769.  The right wing houses the Redoutensäle halls which were destroyed by fire in 1992.  The left wing, housing the collections of the National Library, also incorporates the façade of the Augustine church.  All these buildings enclose the Josefsplatz square, with the equestrian statue of Emperor Joseph II by F. A. Zauner (above), considered one of the most beautiful squares in Vienna.

In the course of the expansion of the city of Vienna - initiated by Emperor Franz Joseph in 1858 - and the building of the Ringstraße boulevard, construction of the magnificent Emperor´s Forum began in 1869, based on plans by G. Semper.  It was to extend from the Hofburg to the court stables.  The only projects realised were the two court museums and the New Hofburg on Heldenplatz square, according to plans by Semper, and completed by C. von Hasenauer in 1913.  Today the New Hofburg houses the Hofburg Congress Centre, the former court collections of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the National Library with its portrait collection and picture archives, and the Ethnological Museum.
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