The Palais Equitable is a

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

in Stock-im-Eisen-Platz (now part of Stephansplatz) in the

Innere Stadt The Innere Stadt (; Central Bavarian: ''Innare Stod'') is the 1st municipal district of Vienna () located in the center of the Austrian capital. The Innere Stadt is the old town of Vienna. Until the city boundaries were expanded in 1850, the In ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, that was built in the 19th century for The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and that incorporates the

Stock im Eisen The Stock im Eisen (German: "staff in iron") is the midsection of a tree-trunk from the Middle Ages, a so-called nail-tree (''Nagelbaum''), into which hundreds of nails have been pounded for good luck over centuries. It is located in Vienna, Austri ...

on one corner. The building is on the site of five small

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

buildings that were demolished between 1856 and 1886, partly in order to expand Kärntner Straße. It was designed by Andreas Streit and constructed between 1887 and 1891. It is one of the few

palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

s or

s in Vienna never to have been an aristocratic residence. The Palais Equitable has a richly detailed

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means 'frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...

featuring American eagles. The Stock im Eisen, enclosed in glass, is in a niche on the Kärntner Straße corner of the building, and bronze reliefs by Rudolf Weyr on the main doors depict its history. The remainder of the ornamentation is by

Viktor Oskar Tilgner Viktor Oskar Tilgner (25 October 1844 in Pressburg – 16 April 1896 in Vienna) was an Austrian sculptor and medailleur. Life He was the son of Captain Carl Tilgner. The family moved to Vienna when he was a child. His talent was recogniz ...

and Johann Schindler. The interior is also extremely sumptuous: marble from Hallein and granite from

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

were used for the dramatic stairway and the vestibule, and the glass-covered interior courtyard is completely clad in tile and

maiolica Maiolica is tin-glazed pottery decorated in colours on a white background. Italian maiolica dating from the Renaissance period is the most renowned. When depicting historical and mythical scenes, these works were known as ''istoriato'' wares ...

. (The stairway was apparently intended to be adaptable for access to a future

subway Subway, Subways, The Subway, or The Subways may refer to: Transportation * Subway, a term for underground rapid transit rail systems * Subway (underpass), a type of walkway that passes underneath an obstacle * Subway (George Bush Interconti ...

.) A painting on the ceiling of the lobby and the

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

ornamentation on the second floor are by Julius Victor Berger. Wilhelm Beck & Söhne, providers of uniforms to the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with t ...

, had its shop in the building, and the United States consulate was located there. The Palais Equitable was damaged in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

but was restored in 1949. The entrance area was renovated by Rüdiger Lainer in 1997. Today the building houses offices of various companies and organizations including the Austrian division of

Sal. Oppenheim Sal. Oppenheim was a German private bank founded in 1789 and headquartered in Cologne, Germany. It provided asset management solutions for wealthy individual clients and institutional investors. In 2009, the bank became a subsidiary of Deutsche Ba ...

, and a retail outlet for

Augarten Porcelain __NOTOC__ The Vienna Porcelain Manufactory Augarten (German: ''Wiener Porzellanmanufaktur Augarten'') is a porcelain manufactory located in Vienna, Austria. History The historic Vienna Porcelain Manufactory (1718–1864) was the second p ...

."Charming Inner Courtyards - Hof in German"
, MyMagicalVienna.com (picture of the staircase).

References

Sources

* Eve Marie Young. ''Art and Enterprise: The 19th Century Administrative Buildings of a U.S. Life Insurance Company: With Particular Consideration of the Vienna, Austria, building known as "zum Stock in Eisen"''. Dissertation,

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

, 1991

External links

Palais Equitable
at Nicolas Janberg's Structurae

at Planet Vienna
360° panorama of Stephansplatz
at Panoramic Earth {{coord, 48, 12, 29, N, 16, 22, 18, E, region:AT-9_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Office buildings in Vienna Commercial buildings completed in 1891 Buildings and structures in Innere Stadt Historicist architecture in Austria