Built: 1874-1884 Designed by: Theophil Hansen Renovated: 1945-1956 by Professors Max Fellerer and Eugen Wörle Type: Government Building Vienna, Austria
T his building was originally designed as the parliament building for the Habsburg Empire. It now serves as the Austrian Parliament building. The architecture is Greek, decorated with statues of Greek and Roman historians, statesmen, and scholars. The most prominent statue is of the Pallas Athene, the goddess of wisdom (Athenebrunnen). Hansen came under fire for his design, and defended it by saying, "The ancient Greeks were the first people to love the freedom and regularity above all, and it was their style which besides its pronounced severity and regularity permitted a great liberty of development." He was later given an architecture studio within the building to continue his work after retirement. This is the site where, after the collapse of the Hapsburg Empire, the republic of Deutsch-Österreich was formed. Half of the building was destroyed by World War II. Some of the artwork damaged during the war is only now starting to be restored.
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