The Habsburgwarte is a 27-metre-tall tower on the

Hermannskogel The Hermannskogel () is a hill in Döbling, the 19th district of Vienna. At 542 metres above sea level, it is the highest natural point of Vienna. It lies on the border to Lower Austria. The Habsburgwarte, standing atop the Hermannskogel, marke ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. It was opened in 1889.

History

In the 19th century, the

Klosterneuburg Monastery Klosterneuburg Abbey () is a twelfth-century Augustinian monastery of the Catholic Church located in the town of Klosterneuburg in Lower Austria. Overlooking the Danube, just north of the present Vienna city limits at the Leopoldsberg, the monas ...

, which owns the land on the Hermannskogel – Vienna’s highest elevation at 544 meters – , sought to construct a permanent viewing tower but was denied permission. As an interim solution, a wooden observation structure was erected in 1877 under the care of the

Austrian Tourist Club The Austrian Tourist Club () or ÖTK is the second oldest and third largest Alpine club in Austria. The foundation of the club goes back to an initiative by Gustav Jäger, publisher of ''Der Tourist'', the first tourist magazine in Austria. In co ...

(Österreichischer Touristenklub, ÖTK). In 1883, the Club resolved to build a more durable stone tower. Construction permission was granted in 1887, and

Emperor Franz Joseph I Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death in 1916. In the early part of his reig ...

had previously approved the name "Habsburgwarte" in 1884. The tower was constructed in 1888 to mark the 40th anniversary of Franz Joseph I’s reign. It was designed by architect Franz von Neumann Jr. in a Romanesque-Gothic revival style, reminiscent of a medieval watchtower. The Habsburgwarte was officially inaugurated on 6 October 1889. In 1938, the

National Socialists Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

forced the tower to be renamed "Hermannskogelwarte". In 1945, the columned loggia on the first floor was destroyed by artillery fire. Restoration took place in 1947 with the support of NIOGAS (now EVN), which has used the tower as a relay station and remote monitoring site since 1960. On 13 September 1972, the

Federal Monuments Office The Federal Monuments Office (BDA; ) is a department of the Federal Chancellery of Austria, Federal Chancellery responsible for cultural heritage in Austria. History The BDA was established in 1853 under Emperor Franz Joseph I, as a central co ...

declared the Habsburgwarte a protected historic monument. On 8 October 1974, the Austrian Tourist Club (ÖTK) decided to revert to the original historical name, Habsburgwarte.

Architecture

The

neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

structure, designed by architect Franz von Neumann Jr., consists of a 16-meter-high round tower topped by an 11-meter-high spire. On the observation platform, located 16.7 meters above the base, is the fundamental reference point of the Austrian national survey, established in 1892 by the Imperial and Royal Military Geographic Institute. The original loggia on the first floor no longer exists. The

continues to operate the Habsburgwarte as a public observation tower. It is open on weekends from spring to late autumn (approximately April to November) for a small entrance fee. Guided visits for registered groups are also available at other times by appointment.

References

External links

Habsburg-Warte - Informationen des ÖTK
{{Coord, 48, 16, 12, N, 16, 17, 37, E, region:AT-9_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Döbling Tourist attractions in Vienna Towers in Vienna Communication towers in Austria Buildings and structures completed in 1889 Round towers