The Rathauspark is a 40,000 m² park in

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. ...

's first district, the

Innere Stadt The Innere Stadt (; ; "Inner City") is the 1st municipal Districts of Vienna, 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 I ...

, in front of the Rathaus.

History

The park was established in 1873 at the initiative of the Mayor of Vienna Cajetan Felder, replacing the former k.u.k. (Imperial and Royal) parade ground on the Josefstädter Glacis. The design was entrusted to the city planning office and city gardener Rudolph Siebeck, who arranged the park in two symmetrically laid-out sections, each centred around a fountain. The total budget for the project was 165,380 gulden (approximately 1.5 million euros). Several disagreements accompanied the planning of the 370-meter-long and 160-meter-wide area. Friedrich von Schmidt, the architect behind the Rathaus, advocated for low plantings of shrubs and rose bushes in front of the building, as he believed that trees would obstruct the structure's facade. Additionally, Schmidt envisioned two large monumental fountains in the park and two diagonal roads that would cross the space. In October 1870, Siebeck presented a design that incorporated these elements. However, Felder preferred the park to reflect the style of the Stadtpark, providing a recreational space for the public. Consequently, Siebeck revised the design, creating a park densely planted with trees. He eliminated the proposed roads and replaced them with meandering footpaths, similar to those found in the Stadtpark. The original monumental fountains were abandoned in favour of less expensive alternatives. The park was completed in time for the cornerstone-laying ceremony of the Rathaus on June 14, 1873. In 1878, after the resignation of Mayor Felder and the retirement of Siebeck, Friedrich von Schmidt renewed efforts to redesign the park, with assistance from architects

Theophil Hansen Baron Theophil Edvard von Hansen (; original Danish name: Theophilus Hansen, ; 13 July 1813 – 17 February 1891) was a Danish architect who later became an Austrian citizen. He became particularly well known for his buildings and structures in ...

and Heinrich Ferstel, and the Vienna city council. In 1879, Lothar Abel, the new city gardener, proposed a design that would convert the park into a grassy area interspersed with shrubs. However, these plans were never realised, and the park retained its original configuration. Notably, several mature plants were introduced during the park's creation, with some trees predating the establishment of the park itself. The oldest tree is a

London plane The London plane, or sometimes hybrid plane, ''Platanus'' × ''hispanica'', is a tree in the genus ''Platanus''. It is often known by the Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Platanus'' × ''acerifolia'', a later name. It is a Hybrid (biology ...

(''Platanus'' × ''hispanica''), planted in 1783. This tree stands 30 meters tall, has a crown diameter of 21 meters, and a trunk circumference of 6 meters.

Today

The park today serves as both a recreational space and a venue for events held at the Rathausplatz, including the Vienna Ice Dream ice-skating rink, an annual film festival, and the Rathaus Christkindlmarkt, Vienna's central

Christmas market A Christmas market is a street market associated with the celebration of Christmas during the four weeks of Advent. These markets originated in Germany, but are now held in many countries. Some in the U.S. have Phono-semantic matching, adapted ...

. Additionally, the park is home to a variety of exotic plants, such as the Japanese pagoda tree and a

ginkgo ''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants, assigned to the gymnosperms. The scientific name is also used as the English common name. The order to which the genus belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, , and ''Ginkgo'' is n ...

. These botanical rarities are labeled for identification, and include a beech tree planted to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph I's reign. The park is home to several monuments, with the southern area featuring statues of Theodor Körner,

Karl Renner Karl Renner (14 December 1870 – 31 December 1950) was an Austrian politician and jurist of the Social Democratic Party of Austria, Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria. He is often referred to as the "Father of the Republics" because he ...

, Josef Popper-Lynkeus,

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...

, Eduard von Bauernfeld, and Joseph Lanner. The northern area contains monuments dedicated to Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller,

Ernst Mach Ernst Waldfried Josef Wenzel Mach ( ; ; 18 February 1838 – 19 February 1916) was an Austrian physicist and philosopher, who contributed to the understanding of the physics of shock waves. The ratio of the speed of a flow or object to that of ...

, Adolf Schärf, and a memorial to the destruction of Vienna during World War II in 1945.

Gallery

File:Rathauspark Wien 2022-08-08 07.jpg, Benches in the park File:Wien - Rathauspark, Wetterhäuschen.JPG, A

weather house A weather house is a folk art device in the shape of a small German or Alpine chalet that indicates the weather. A typical weather house has two doors side by side. The left side has a girl or woman, the right side a boy or man. The female ...

File:Rathausplatz.JPG, One of the two fountains in the park File:Wien 01 Rathauspark a.jpg, The London plane from 1783 File:Wien - Rathausplatz, Weihnachtsdekoration.JPG, The park at Christmas File:Wien 01 Rathauspark bc.jpg, A playground in the park

References

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