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104-438: The foundation stone was laid in 1874; the building was completed in 1883. The architect responsible for its Greek Revival style was Theophil Hansen . He designed the building holistically, aiming to have each element harmonize with all the others, and was also responsible for the interior decoration, such as statues, paintings, furniture, chandeliers , and numerous other elements. Hansen was honored by Emperor Franz Joseph with

208-525: A gable . The group of figures in the gable are made of Laas marble and depict the allegorical times of the day. The columns and pilasters of the wall are made of marble from Untersberg , the stylobates of dark marble, the decorations of the doors of red Salzburg marble. The wall space between the pillars is made of grey scagliola , with niches in between decorated with statues made of Carrara marble. The statues show historical persons such as Numa Pompilius , Cincinnatus , Quintus Fabius Maximus , Cato

312-666: A Parliament because of the connection to the Ancient Greeks and the ideal of democracy . After studying rival proposals, the Imperial Commission chose the plan by Theophil Hansen, who could rely on his drafts for Zappeion Hall in Athens . In 1869 the k.k. Ministry of the Interior gave von Hansen the order to design the new Austrian parliament building. Ground was broken in June 1874; on

416-557: A Selinote (1851). The controversy was to inspire von Klenze's "Aegina" room at the Munich Glyptothek of 1830, the first of his many speculative reconstructions of Greek colour. Hittorff lectured in Paris in 1829–1830 that Greek temples had originally been painted ochre yellow, with the moulding and sculptural details in red, blue, green and gold. While this may or may not have been the case with older wooden or plain stone temples, it

520-577: A bold, pedimented portico with arched openings. The symmetrical façade is divided into two equal halves. Much Greek Revival architecture used the Greek Doric order in the earlier version found in buildings leading up to the Parthenon in Athens. This contrasted significantly with later Greek Hellenistic architecture and Roman architecture . Greek Doric columns are typically rather thick, often tapering towards

624-606: A common feature. The joke on the Viennese streets was that Athena was so disgusted by the political infighting that she deliberately turned her back to the building. Nevertheless, the building housed the first form of a parliamentary system for many of the people of Central Europe . Some of the former deputies continued their political careers after the dissolution of the Empire and became important politicians in their home countries. The Reichsratsgebäude continued to function until 1918, when

728-571: A competition for a monument to the king that would promote "morality and patriotism." Friedrich Gilly 's unexecuted design for a temple raised above the Leipziger Platz caught the tenor of high idealism that the Germans sought in Greek architecture and was enormously influential on Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Leo von Klenze . Schinkel was in a position to stamp his mark on Berlin after the catastrophe of

832-469: A deliberate riposte to France, where it never really caught on. By comparison, Greek Revival architecture in France was never popular with either the state or the public. What little there is started with Charles de Wailly 's crypt in the church of St Leu-St Gilles (1773–80), and Claude Nicolas Ledoux 's Barriere des Bonshommes (1785–89). First-hand evidence of Greek architecture was of very little importance to

936-468: A famous Austrian theatre architect. In its layout with a ramp and a lobby area, the Abgeordnetenhaus was a model for the later Parliament Building. Completed on 25 April 1861 this temporary structure was opened by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria , and soon afterwards mocked Schmerlingtheater , after Minister Anton von Schmerling . It was used by the deputies of Cisleithania until the completion of

1040-710: A number of decorative styles known variously as Neoclassical , Empire , Russian Empire, and Regency architecture in Great Britain. Greek Revival architecture took a different course in a number of countries, lasting until the 1860s and the American Civil War and later in Scotland . Modern-day architects are recreating this design by building houses similar to the Greek Revival. These houses are characterized by their symmetrical and balanced proportions, typically featuring

1144-485: A separate structure to protect them from the elements while they underwent restoration. The Athena Fountain ( Pallas-Athene-Brunnen ) in front of the Parliament was erected between 1893 and 1902 by Carl Kundmann , Josef Tautenhayn and Hugo Haerdtl, based on plans by Baron von Hansen. In the middle is a water basin and a richly decorated base. The four figures lying at the foot of Athena are allegorical representations of

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1248-619: A street ( Dumbastraße  [ de ] ) near the Musikverein after him. In his will, he bequeathed over 200 original manuscripts by Schubert to the City of Vienna. These formed the basis for what is now the world's largest collection of musical scores at the Vienna City Hall Library . During a visit to Athens with his wife Anna, he made a grant to the University of Athens to finish

1352-409: Is built in a semicircle of 34 m diameter and 22.5 m depth. It originally contained 364 seats. With the introduction of various electoral reforms, the number was increased to 425 seats in 1896 and with the introduction of male universal suffrage in 1907 to 516 seats. The chamber has viewing galleries on two levels. The first gallery has in the middle a box for the head of state. The right side of

1456-600: Is considered to have been an important patron of the arts and music and a benefactor of Greece . In 1817, Nikolaus' father Stergios, an immigrant to Vienna from a family of Aromanian or Greek descent from Vlasti , a village then part of the Ottoman Empire and today in Greece , became a merchant. Nikolaus attended the Akademisches Gymnasium and spent the revolutionary years of 1847-48 with his brother Michael at

1560-534: Is looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture , which was drawn from Roman architecture . The term was first used by Charles Robert Cockerell in a lecture he gave as an architecture professor at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1842. With newfound access to Greece and Turkey , or initially to the books produced by the few who had visited the sites, archaeologist–architects of

1664-633: Is presently used by the President of the National Council and the Federal Council for festive functions, as well as for traditional parliamentary receptions. Located at the back of the Hall of Pillars is the reception salon ( Empfangssalon ) of the President of the National Council. The room is fitted with Pompeian wall decorations in stucco and a large glass skylight . Hanging on the wall are portraits of

1768-707: Is tempting to see the Greek Revival as the expression of Regency authoritarianism, then the changing conditions of life in Britain made Doric the loser of the Battle of the Styles , dramatically symbolized by the selection of Charles Barry 's Gothic design for the Palace of Westminster in 1836. Nevertheless, Greek continued to be in favour in Scotland well into the 1870s in the singular figure of Alexander Thomson , known as Greek Thomson. Following

1872-498: Is the site of important state ceremonies, most notably the swearing-in ceremony of the president of Austria . The building is closely associated with the two parliamentary bodies, as is shown by the use of the term Hohes Haus as a metonym for "Parliament". Parliamentary offices spill over into nearby buildings, such as the Palais Epstein . After five years of renovations, the building reopened in 2023. The constitution known as

1976-502: Is up to four stories high. The architect's original plan was to have the entire exterior in polychrome , like in ancient Greece. For this purpose, he created a showpiece on the southern side of the building, with gilded capitals and red and gilded friezes . However, the plan was not implemented due to budgetary constraints. Corresponding to the horse tamers at the Ringstraße ramp, eight quadrigas made of bronze decorate both ends of

2080-575: The Academy and University of Athens , the Zappeion , and the National Library of Greece . The most prominent architects in this style were northern Europeans such as Christian and Theophil Hansen and Ernst Ziller and German-trained Greeks such as Stamatios Kleanthis and Panagis Kalkos . Despite the prestige of ancient Greece among Europe's educated elite, most people had minimal direct knowledge of

2184-501: The Act of Union , the Napoleonic Wars , and the clamour for political reform. William Wilkins 's winning design for the public competition for Downing College, Cambridge announced the Greek style was to become a dominant idiom in architecture, especially for public buildings of this sort. Wilkins and Robert Smirke went on to build some of the most important buildings of the era, including

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2288-581: The Bank of Pennsylvania . Latrobe's design for the U.S. Capitol was an imaginative interpretation of the classical orders not constrained by historical precedent, incorporating American motifs such as corncobs and tobacco leaves. This idiosyncratic approach became typical of the American attitude to Greek detailing. His overall plan for the Capitol did not survive, though many of his interiors did. He also did notable work on

2392-597: The Dual Monarchy in 1867, the Kingdom of Hungary received its own separate legislative body, the re-established Diet , and the original plan for two buildings was dropped. The precursor to the present building was the temporary House of Representatives, located on Währinger Straße, off the newly laid-out Ringstraße boulevard. It was erected within six weeks in March and April 1861 according to plans designed by Ferdinand Fellner ,

2496-599: The February Patent , promulgated in 1861, created an Imperial Council as an Austrian legislature, and a new building had to be constructed to house this constitutional organ. The original plan was to construct two separate buildings, one for the House of Lords ( Herrenhaus ) and one for the House of Deputies ( Abgeordnetenhaus ). However, after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise ( Ausgleich ) which effectively created

2600-629: The Greek War of Independence , Romantic Nationalist ideology encouraged the use of historically Greek architectural styles in place of Ottoman or pan-European ones. Classical architecture was used for secular public buildings, while Byzantine architecture was preferred for churches. Examples of Greek Revival architecture in Greece include the Old Royal Palace (now the home of the Parliament of Greece ),

2704-462: The Men's Choral Society of Vienna in order to free them from financial concerns. In return, he asked that "from time to time, a choral work in remembrance of me should be performed in a church" and that "the money should never be used for a building". To this day, Franz Schubert 's German Mass is often sung in his honor. Dumba was a major donor for the Musikverein building. The Austrian government named

2808-663: The Monumental Church and the Washington Monument , as well as George Hadfield and Gabriel Manigault . At the same time, the popular appetite for the Greek was sustained by architectural pattern books, the most important of which was Asher Benjamin's The Practical House Carpenter (1830). This guide helped create the proliferation of Greek homes seen especially in northern New York State and in Connecticut's former Western Reserve in northeastern Ohio . The discovery that

2912-556: The Porte , British travellers, artists and architects went to Greece and Turkey in ever larger numbers to study ancient Greek monuments and excavate or collect antiquities. The Greek War of Independence ended in 1832; Lord Byron 's participation and death during this had brought it additional prominence. The style was attractive in Russia because they shared the Eastern Orthodox faith with

3016-696: The Theatre Royal , Covent Garden (1808–1809), the General Post Office (1824–1829) and the British Museum (1823–1848), the Wilkins Building of University College London (1826–1830), and the National Gallery (1832–1838). One of the greatest British proponents of the style was Decimus Burton . In London , twenty three Greek Revival Commissioners' churches were built between 1817 and 1829,

3120-557: The cornerstone is inscribed the date "2 September 1874". At the same time, work also commenced on the nearby Kunsthistorisches Museum and Naturhistorisches Museum on Maria-Theresien-Platz , the City Hall, and the University . In November 1883 the offices of the House of Representatives were completed and put to use. On 4 December 1883, the House of Representatives held its first session under its president, Franz Smolka. On 16 December 1884

3224-406: The skylighted main ceiling in the middle and the coffered side ceilings . The floor is made of polished marble resting on a concrete hull. The space below was designed as a hypocaust for a floor heating and air circulation system for the hall. Located on the transverse axis at the end of the Hall of Pillars are the chamber of the former House of Representatives (on the left) and the chamber of

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3328-652: The Austrian Anschluss to Nazi Germany in 1938. The Nazis used it as an administrative seat of the Vienna Reichsgau . During the Second World War, half of the building suffered heavy damage by Allied bombing and the Vienna Offensive . Parts of the interior, such as the former House of Lords Chamber and the Hall of Columns, were completely destroyed. It was in the old Abgeordnetenhaus Chamber that

3432-856: The Elder , Gaius Gracchus , Cicero , Manlius Torquatus , Augustus , Seneca the Younger and Constantine the Great . The friezes above were painted by August Eisenmenger and depict the history of the emergence of civic life. Starting from left to right it shows: The chamber of the House of Representatives was important for the history of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Many politicians started their career as deputies, such as Karl Renner , later chancellor and president of Austria, and Leopold Kunschak , later conservative leader. Other deputies from outside core Austria played important roles in their native countries after

3536-748: The First and Second World Wars. Important politicians who started their career and had their first democratic experience later played important roles in their native countries after the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. These include: In Austria In Czechoslovakia in Poland in Italy in Yugoslavia in Ukraine The Austrian Imperial Council ( Reichsrat ) was the recruiting school for central and southeastern democracy and socialism. Since 1920,

3640-618: The French occupation ended in 1813; his work on what is now the Altes Museum , Konzerthaus Berlin , and the Neue Wache transformed that city. Similarly, in Munich von Klenze's Glyptothek and Walhalla memorial were the fulfilment of Gilly's vision of an orderly and moral German world. The purity and seriousness of the style was intended as an assertion of German national values and partly intended as

3744-504: The French, due to the influence of Marc-Antoine Laugier 's doctrines that sought to discern the principles of the Greeks instead of their mere practices. It would take until Labrouste 's Neo-Grec of the Second Empire for Greek Revival architecture to flower briefly in France. Following the travels to Greece , Nicholas Revett, a Suffolk architect, and the better remembered James Stuart in

3848-462: The Greek-Austrian magnate Nikolaus Dumba, who was on the committee for constructing a new parliament building. Hansen was inspired by the design of the Zappeion hall in Athens. The original plans saw separate buildings for the House of Representatives and the House of Lords, but for practical and financial reasons it was later decided to house both chambers in one building. Von Hansen's concept of

3952-473: The Greeks had painted their temples influenced the later development of the style. The archaeological dig at Aegina and Bassae in 1811–1812 by Cockerell, Otto Magnus von Stackelberg , and Karl Haller von Hallerstein had disinterred painted fragments of masonry daubed with impermanent colours. This revelation was a direct contradiction of Winckelmann 's notion of the Greek temple as timeless, fixed, and pure in its whiteness. In 1823, Samuel Angell discovered

4056-496: The Greeks. The historic centre of Saint Petersburg was rebuilt by Alexander I of Russia , with many buildings giving the Greek Revival a Russian debut. The Saint Petersburg Bourse on Vasilievsky Island has a temple front with 44 Doric columns. Quarenghi 's design for the Manege "mimics a 5th-century BC Athenian temple with a portico of eight Doric columns bearing a pediment and bas reliefs". Leo von Klenze 's expansion of

4160-557: The House of Lords under its president, Count Trauttmansdorff, held its first session. Both chambers would continue to meet in the building until the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. The official name of the building was Reichsratsgebäude (Imperial Council Building), and the street behind the building, the Reichsratsstraße , still recalls this former name. The word "Parlament", however, has been in colloquial use since its construction. The building saw tumultuous years during

4264-520: The National Council, the Federal Council, and the former House of Deputies ( Abgeordnetenhaus ). The building also includes committee rooms, libraries , lobbies, dining rooms, bars and gymnasiums . One of the building's most famous features is the Pallas Athena fountain in front of the main entrance, built by Carl Kundmann after plans from Hansen from 1898 to 1902; it is one of the city's most notable tourist attractions. The Parliament Building

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4368-587: The Presidents of the National Council since 1945. Further behind the reception salon is the former reception hall for both chambers of the Imperial Council. It is used today for committee meetings and hearings on financial, state budget, and audit court matters by the National Council, thus being presently named the Budgetsaal . The hall is richly decorated with marble, stucco, and a rich coffered ceiling in

4472-447: The Renaissance style. Inlaid into the ceiling are the coat of arms of the 17 Kronländer , kingdoms and territories represented in the Imperial Council. The chamber of the former House of Deputies ( Abgeordnetenhaus ) is used today by the Federal Assembly ( Bundesversammlung ) whenever it convenes for special occasions such as National Day and the inauguration ceremony of a newly elected Federal President of Austria . The chamber

4576-666: The Supreme Court interior (1806–1807), and his masterpiece was the Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Baltimore (1805–1821). Latrobe claimed, "I am a bigoted Greek in the condemnation of the Roman architecture", but he did not rigidly impose Greek forms. "Our religion," he said, "requires a church wholly different from the temple, our legislative assemblies and our courts of justice, buildings of entirely different principles from their basilicas; and our amusements could not possibly be performed in their theatres or amphitheatres." His circle of junior colleagues became an informal school of Greek revivalists, and his influence shaped

4680-476: The Temple of Apollo on the Cycladic island of Delos , in the collection of books that he (and Stuart in some cases) produced, largely funded by special subscription by the Society of Dilettanti. See more in Terry Friedman's book The Georgian Parish Church , Spire Books, 2004. Seen in its wider social context, Greek Revival architecture sounded a new note of sobriety and restraint in public buildings in Britain around 1800 as an assertion of nationalism attendant on

4784-415: The ancient Greek civilization before the middle of the 18th century. The monuments of Greek antiquity were known chiefly from Pausanias and other literary sources. Visiting Ottoman Greece was difficult and dangerous business prior to the period of stagnation beginning with the Great Turkish War . Few tourists visited Athens during the first half of the 18th century, and none made any significant study of

4888-408: The appeal of ancient Greece rose in the 19th century along with the growing acceptance of democracy. This made Greek architecture suddenly more attractive in both the North and the South, for differing ideological purposes: for the North, Greek architecture symbolized the freedom of the Greeks; in the South it symbolized the cultural glories enabled by a slave society. Thomas Jefferson owned a copy of

4992-401: The architectural ruins. It was not until the expedition to Greece funded by the Society of Dilettanti of 1751 by James Stuart and Nicholas Revett that serious archaeological inquiry began in earnest. Stuart and Revett's findings, published in 1762 (first volume) as The Antiquities of Athens , along with Julien-David Le Roy's Ruines des plus beaux monuments de la Grèce (1758) were

5096-399: The areas of public life on which the famous personalities impacted. The crown lands, important cities, and rivers of the empire are portrayed in 50 smaller reliefs. The roof is for the most part kept in the ancient Greek form, decorated with ancient Greek-style caps and palmettes made of copper sheet metal . It was the emperor's personal wish to use Austrian marble for the construction of

5200-487: The assembly of Greek buildings in Helsinki city centre is particularly notable. At the cultural edges of Europe, in the Swedish region of western Finland, Greek Revival motifs might be grafted on a purely Baroque design, as in the design for Oravais Church by Jacob Rijf, 1792. A Greek Doric order, rendered in the anomalous form of pilasters , contrasts with the hipped roof and boldly scaled cupola and lantern, of wholly traditional Baroque inspiration. In Austria , one of

5304-518: The best examples of this style is the Parliament Building designed by Theophil Hansen . In Canada , Montreal architect John Ostell designed a number of prominent Greek Revival buildings, including the first building on the McGill University campus and Montreal's original Custom House, now part of the Pointe-à-Callière Museum . The Toronto Street Post Office , completed in 1853, is another Canadian example. While some 18th-century Americans had feared Greek democracy, sometimes called mobocracy ,

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5408-427: The building interiors. In the city of Serres , near his father's hometown, he founded an orphanage and contributed to the construction of a vocational school, under the aegis of his friend and fellow Greek politician, Georgios Averoff . From 1870 to 1896, he was a member of the Landtag , where he served on the Finance Committee and the Poor Law Committee, occasionally acting as the Landtag chairman's deputy. In 1885,

5512-411: The building was occupied by demonstrators during the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire . From 21 October 1918, the remaining German-speaking deputies convened in a "Provisional National Assembly", initially at the Palais Niederösterreich , from 12 November onwards in the Parliament Building. On that day, the presidents of the assembly officially proclaimed the Republic of German-Austria from

5616-429: The building, since Emperor Franz Joseph I had a personal disdain for the parliamentary body. Speeches from the Throne in front of the parliamentarians were held in the Hofburg Palace instead. The architect von Hansen paid particular attention to the design and construction of this hall. The marble floor was polished in a complicated process. The capitals of the pillars were gilded with 23 carat (96%) gold. Running around

5720-412: The buildings on the Ringstraße. For that purpose, marble from the village of Laas in the county of Tyrol was brought in and used generously on the Hofburg Palace and Reichsratsgebäude . The white, sturdy stone was perfect for von Hansen's aims, since the building blocks for the façade and statues could be made to look like those used in ancient Greece. Over the decades, with increased air pollution ,

5824-412: The city now enjoys a striking visual uniformity, and as such is sometimes whimsically referred to as "the Athens of the North". Within Regency architecture the style already competed with Gothic Revival and the continuation of the less stringent Palladian and Neoclassical styles of Georgian architecture , the other two remaining more common for houses, both in towns and English country houses . If it

5928-450: The coloured metopes of Temple C at Selinunte , Sicily and published them in 1826. The French architect Jacques Ignace Hittorff witnessed the exhibition of Angell's find and endeavoured to excavate Temple B at Selinus. His imaginative reconstructions of this temple were exhibited in Rome and Paris in 1824 and he went on to publish these as Architecture polychrome chez les Grecs (1830) and later in Restitution du Temple d'Empedocle

6032-489: The construction (1833) of the row of Greek temples at Sailors' Snug Harbor on Staten Island . These had varied functions within a home for retired sailors. From 1820 to 1850, the Greek Revival style dominated the United States, such as the Benjamin F. Clough House in Waltham, Massachusetts . It could also be found as far west as Springfield, Illinois . Examples of vernacular Greek Revival continued to be built even farther west, such as in Charles City, Iowa . This style

6136-409: The decision, considering the tumultuous debates the building had to endure before the two World Wars. Behind the speaker's pult is the government bench ( Regierungsbank ), which is however only fully occupied during important events such as the declaration of the government ( Regierungserklärung ) or the state budget speech ( Budgetrede ). Greek Revival architecture Greek Revival architecture

6240-537: The early 1750s, intellectual curiosity quickly led to a desire among the elite to emulate the style. Stuart was commissioned after his return from Greece by George Lyttelton to produce the first Greek building in England, the garden temple at Hagley Hall (1758–59). A number of British architects in the second half of the century took up the expressive challenge of the Doric from their aristocratic patrons, including Benjamin Henry Latrobe (notably at Hammerwood Park and Ashdown House ) and Sir John Soane , but it remained

6344-551: The entrance that leads to the Hall of Pillars ( Säulenhalle ) is a frieze with an allegorical depiction of Austria on her throne. Representing the motto "Goods and Blood for thy country" ( Gut und Blut furs Vaterland ), warriors swear loyalty and women bring offerings. Located behind the entrance atrium is the grand Hall of Pillars ( Säulenhalle ) or peristyle . The hall is about 40 m long and 23 m wide. The 24 Corinthian pillars are made of Adnet marble, and all of them are monoliths weighing around 16 tons each. The pillars carry

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6448-449: The evolution from Doric to Corinthian was not inexorable. Both events were to cause a minor scandal. The emerging understanding that Greek art was subject to changing forces of environment and culture was a direct assault on the architectural rationalism of the day. Nikolaus Dumba Nikolaus Dumba ( Greek : Νικόλαος Δούμπας; 24 July 1830, Vienna – 23 March 1900, Budapest ) was an Austrian industrialist and liberal politician. He

6552-434: The first accurate surveys of ancient Greek architecture. The rediscovery of the three relatively easily accessible Greek temples at Paestum in Southern Italy created huge interest throughout Europe, and prints by Piranesi and others were widely circulated. The Napoleonic Wars denied access to France and Italy to traditional Grand Tourists, especially from Britain. Aided by close diplomatic relations between Britain and

6656-427: The first volume of The Antiquities of Athens . He never practiced in the style, but he played an important role in introducing Greek Revival architecture to the United States. In 1803, Thomas Jefferson appointed Benjamin Henry Latrobe as surveyor of public building, and Latrobe designed a number of important public buildings in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia , including work on the United States Capitol and

6760-442: The former House of Lords (on the right). Von Hansen's idea was to have the Hall of Pillars as the main central part of the building. It was designed to act as a meeting point between the House of Lords and the House of Representatives. Hansen also wanted to have the hall used by the monarch for the State Opening of Parliament and the Speech from the Throne , similar to the British tradition. However, such ceremonies were never held in

6864-414: The former meeting room of the House of Lords has been used as a plenary meeting room by the National Council. The House of Lords ( Herrenhaus ) used to have its chamber where today the National Council convenes. The chamber was designed in the classical style, with a horseshoe-shaped seating arrangement facing the chair. The Chamber of the National Council was destroyed in 1945 during aerial bombardments and

6968-422: The founders of the First Republic as well as to Dr. Karl Renner are located on either end. The middle axis from east to west is divided into an entrance hall, vestibule , atrium , peristyle , and two large rooms at the far end. For the interior decoration, von Hansen used Greek architectural elements such as Doric , Ionic and Corinthian pillars, and in the two rooms Pompeii-style stucco technique for

7072-416: The four most important rivers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They represent at the front the Danube and Inn , in the back the Elbe and Vltava (German: Moldau) rivers. On the sides, little cupids ride dolphins . The statues of the Danube, Inn, and the cupids were executed by Haerdtl, those of the Elbe and Moldau by Kundmann. The female statues above represent the legislative and executive powers of

7176-434: The full range of ornamentation, and colour, on ancient Greek temples emerged over the period. Architects were aware of the large pedimental sculptures and metope reliefs, and copied these expensive elements when funds allowed, but far less often had the full range of antefixes and akroterions . Greek temples normally had no windows except perhaps in the roof, posing a problem for modern buildings for most purposes, which

7280-453: The gallery is for the diplomatic corps and the left side for the cabinet and family members of the head of state. On both far ends are seats for journalists. The gallery on the second level, which is slightly recessed from the one on the first level, is for the general public. The chamber is architecturally based on an ancient Greek theatron . The wall behind the presidium is designed like an antique skene with marble colonnades that carry

7384-418: The hall suffered direct hits by aerial bombs. At least two pillars and the skylight were completely destroyed. The gilded coffered side ceilings under which the frieze ran on the walls were almost completely destroyed. The few surviving parts of the frieze were removed and stored. Only in the 1990s were the surviving parts restored as much as possible. Because of its representative character, the Hall of Pillars

7488-431: The late years of the declining multi-ethnic Austrian monarchy stretching from Dalmatia to Bukovina , as the House of Representatives was extremely fractious with tensions among liberals and conservatives, German nationalists and Young Czech deputies, as well as between the government and parliament. It became notorious for filibusters , parliamentary brawls, and undisciplined deputies throwing inkwells at each other as

7592-412: The layout reflected the structure of the Imperial Council ( Reichsrat ), as was stipulated by the so-called February Patent of 1861, which laid down the constitutional structure for the empire. The two chambers were connected by the great hypostyle hall, which was the central structure. The hall was supposed to be the meeting point between the commoners and the lords, reflecting the structure of society at

7696-435: The left these are Apollo , Athena , Zeus , Hera , and Hephaestus , and from the right Hermes , Demeter , Poseidon , Artemis and Ares . Above the niches with the gods is a frieze , more than 100 m long, by the Viennese artist Alois Hans Schram . It runs along the corridor, continuing into the atrium, and contains an allegorical depiction of the blessing of Peace , of the civic Virtues , and of Patriotism . Above

7800-545: The marble has proved remarkably resilient, stronger than its famous counterpart from Carrara . Four bronze statues of horse tamers are located at the two lower ends of the ramp ( Auffahrtsrampe ). They are a powerful symbol of the suppression of passion, an important precondition for successful parliamentary cooperation. They were designed and executed by J. Lax in the Kaiserlich Königliche Kunst-Erzgießerei in 1897 and 1900. Further bronzeworks include

7904-619: The most notable being St.Pancras church by William and Henry William Inwood . In Scotland the style was avidly adopted by William Henry Playfair , Thomas Hamilton and Charles Robert Cockerell, who severally and jointly contributed to the massive expansion of Edinburgh 's New Town , including the Calton Hill development and the Moray Estate . Such was the popularity of the Doric in Edinburgh that

8008-488: The new Chancellor Karl Renner on 27 April 1945 declared the rebirth of an independent Austria, backed by Soviet troops. Max Fellerer and Eugen Wörle were commissioned as architects; they chose to redesign and adapt the former Lords Chamber into the National Council, and in the process, the meeting room of the National Council was rebuilt in a Modern and functional style. Work on the National Council Chamber

8112-530: The next generation of American architects. Greek revival architecture in the United States also included attention to interior decoration. The role of American women was critical for introducing a wholistic style of Greek-inspired design to American interiors. Innovations such as the Greek-inspired "sofa" and the " klismos chair" allowed both American women and men to pose as Greeks in their homes, and also in

8216-600: The numerous portraits of the period that show them lounging in Greek-inspired furniture. The second phase in American Greek Revival saw the pupils of Latrobe create a monumental national style under the patronage of banker and philhellene Nicholas Biddle , including such works as the Second Bank of the United States by William Strickland (1824), Biddle's home "Andalusia" by Thomas U. Walter (1835–1836), and Girard College , also by Walter (1833–1847). New York saw

8320-561: The palace that is now the Hermitage Museum is another example of the style. During the late period of the Ottoman Empire, Greek Revival Architecture had its examples in the empire. The prominent examples are Istanbul Archaeology Museums (1891) The style was generally popular in northern Europe, and not in the south (except for Greece itself), at least during the main period. Examples can be found in Poland , Lithuania , and Finland , where

8424-476: The period studied the Doric and Ionic orders. Despite its universality rooted in ancient Greece, the Greek Revival idiom was considered an expression of local nationalism and civic virtue in each country that adopted it, and freedom from the lax detail and frivolity that then characterized the architecture of France and Italy , two countries where the style never really took architecturally. Greek Revival architecture

8528-639: The present-day parliament building in 1883, while the House of Lords met at the Estates House of Lower Austria , then the seat of the Lower Austrian Landtag . The site for the new building was on the city's ancient fortifications and walls. In his famous decree Es ist Mein Wille of 1857, Emperor Franz Joseph I had laid down plans for the Ringstraße to replace the old city walls. The parliament building

8632-558: The private enthusiasm of connoisseurs up to the first decade of the 19th century. An early example of Greek Doric architecture married with a more Palladian interior, is the facade of the Revett-designed rural church of Ayot St Lawrence in Hertfordshire, commissioned in 1775 by Lord Lionel Lyde of the eponymous manor. The Doric columns of this church, with their "pie-crust crimped" details, are taken from drawings that Revett made of

8736-604: The ramp in front of the building. Upon the Austrian Constitutional Assembly election in 1919 and the establishment of the First Austrian Republic , the building itself was renamed the Parlament , with the new republican National Council ( Nationalrat ) and Federal Council ( Bundesrat ) replacing the old Imperial House of Deputies ( Abgeordnetenhaus ) and the House of Lords ( Herrenhaus ). The parliament

8840-613: The residence of the Austrian Ambassador Anton von Prokesch-Osten in Athens . In 1852, he took a trip to Egypt with the travel writer Alexander Ziegler . He was trained for a commercial career and took over a cotton mill in Tattendorf that had been operated by his cousin Theodore. It had approximately 180 employees and soon became a highly profitable enterprise. This financial base allowed him to turn his interests elsewhere. He

8944-441: The roof. The quadriga is a symbol of victory, driven by the goddess of victory, Nike . The attic design of both chambers is rich in symbolism, with 76 marble statues and 66 reliefs forming a decorative ensemble. There are 44 allegorical statues that represent human qualities and branches of human activity, while 32 statues represent famous personalities from Classical Antiquity. The reliefs are allegorical as well and correspond to

9048-587: The state and were executed by Tautenhayn. They are again dominated by the Goddess of Wisdom, Athena , standing on a pillar. Athena is dressed in armour with a gilded helmet; her left-hand carries a spear, while her right carries Nike . The building is surrounded by greenery. On the north side, the Rathausplatz , a park is located, while on the southern side, there is a small lawn next to the Justizpalast . Monuments to

9152-477: The time. The gable has not changed since the monarchy and is decorated with symbols and allegories of the 17 provinces ( Kronländer ) of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. The ramp is about four meters high. The pillars are in the Corinthian style. On both ends of the roof are quadrigas. The building used to be surrounded by small patches of lawns, which have since been transformed into parking spaces. The building

9256-506: The title of Freiherr ( Baron ) after its completion. Following heavy damage and destruction in World War II , most of the interior has been restored to its original splendor. The parliament building covers over 13,500 square meters (145,300 sq ft), making it one of the largest structures on the Ringstraße . It contains over one hundred rooms, the most prominent of which are the Chambers of

9360-472: The top, always fluted , and have complicated rules for the entablature above the columns. Additionally, the columns go straight down to the floor ( stylobate ) with no distinct base - this last aspect was often skipped by architects who followed the other Greek conventions, for example in the Brandenburg Gate . The understanding of actual Greek architecture was based on ruined buildings, and awareness of

9464-400: The two quadrigas on top of the roof, each chariot pulled by four horses and steered by the goddess Nike. The bronze works had to undergo extensive conservation and restoration work in the 1990s to combat damage from acid rain and air pollution. Further oxidation corroded the bronze over the decades and ate holes into the sculptures. For that purpose, each sculpture was completely encased in

9568-425: The wall was a frieze which was 126 m long and 2.3 m high. It was designed and painted by Eduard Lebiedzki . The monumental piece of work took decades to prepare and design, and four years, from 1907 until 1911, to paint. The frieze showed allegories depicting the duties of parliament on a golden background. The hall was heavily damaged by aerial bombardments by Allied forces during World War II. On February 7, 1945,

9672-510: The walls. The main entrance at the portico is an exact copy of the gate of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis of Athens , fitted with a bronze portal . From the main entrance at the Ringstraße one passes into the vestibule of the building, which contains Ionic pillars. The walls are decorated with Pavonazzo marble. The niches contain statues of Greek gods. Seen from the entrance starting from

9776-542: Was a style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe , the United States , and Canada , as well as in Greece itself following its independence in 1821. It revived many aspects of the forms and styles of ancient Greek architecture , in particular the Greek temple . A product of Hellenism , Greek Revival architecture

9880-463: Was completed in 1956. The original appearance of the other publicly accessible premises, such as the Hall of Columns, and the building's external appearance were largely restored to von Hansen's design. Baron von Hansen's design for the Reichsratsgebäude uses the neo-Greek style, which was popular during the 19th century Classic revival . Hansen worked at that time in Athens and was recruited by

9984-406: Was completely rebuilt in a modern style. The new chamber was finished in 1956 and is a typical example of 1950s architecture. Apart from the coat of arms made of steel, the chamber is without decoration. The carpet is mint-green, considered to be neutral at the time since it was not the colour of any political party. Green was also said to have a soothing effect, something that apparently weighed in

10088-519: Was definitely not the case with the more luxurious marble temples, where colour was used sparingly to accentuate architectural highlights. Henri Labrouste also proposed a reconstruction of the temples at Paestum to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1829, decked out in startling colour, inverting the accepted chronology of the three Doric temples, thereby implying that the development of the Greek orders did not increase in formal complexity over time, i.e.,

10192-491: Was embraced in Great Britain , Germany , and the United States , where the idiom was regarded as being free from ecclesiastical and aristocratic associations and was appealed to each country's emerging embrace of classical liberalism . The taste for all things Greek in furniture and interior design, sometimes called Neo-Grec , reached its peak in the beginning of the 19th century when the designs of Thomas Hope influenced

10296-403: Was generally brushed aside. Many buildings that needed to fulfill modern functions concentrated on having an impressive temple-style front, giving the other faces of the building a more practical design up to the cornice . In Germany, Greek Revival architecture is predominantly found in two centres, Berlin and Munich . In both locales, Doric was the court style rather than a popular movement and

10400-522: Was heavily patronised by Frederick William II of Prussia and Ludwig I of Bavaria as the expression of their desires for their respective seats to become the capital of Germany. The earliest Greek building was the Brandenburg Gate (1788–91) by Carl Gotthard Langhans , who modelled it loosely on the Propylaea in Athens . Ten years after the death of Frederick the Great , the Berlin Akademie initiated

10504-579: Was incapacitated, when on 4 March 1933 Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß took the occasion of a parliamentary law quarrel to cease its function, the first step to the introduction of his Austrofascist dictatorship. By the imposed "May Constitution" of 1934, the Parliament Building became the seat of the Bundestag , the formal legislature of the Federal State of Austria . It finally lost its function with

10608-501: Was knighted and appointed to the legislature, where he was very active. His son, Konstantin , was Austria-Hungary 's last Ambassador to the United States. He was a close friend of Hans Makart , Gustav Klimt and Carl Kundmann and was a strong promoter of contemporary art. He helped establish several monuments to famous composers of the past and served as a Vice-President of the Friends of Music Society . Dumba left 50,000 florins to

10712-515: Was supposed to feature prominently on the boulevard, in close proximity to Hofburg Palace and the Vienna City Hall . An Imperial Commission was appointed to consider a design for a Parliament building. Influenced by the industrialist and politician Nikolaus Dumba , the Commission decided that its style should be classical , the argument being that classical Greek architecture was appropriate for

10816-516: Was very popular in the south of the US, where the Palladian colonnade was already popular in façades, and many mansions and houses were built for the merchants and rich plantation owners; Millford Plantation is regarded as one of the finest Greek Revival residential examples in the country. Other notable American architects to use Greek Revival designs included Latrobe's student Robert Mills , who designed

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