Anecdotes about Palais Niederösterreich

The political representatives of the state did not have their own building available before 1513. If they wanted to meet or spend a day together, they always had to look for a free venue first. The state parliaments were held at various locations in Lower Austria and Vienna. It has become established to gather in the houses of the respective marshals.

Medieval puzzles can still be solved in the Palais Niederösterreich today. Even if there is no reliable written evidence of the collaboration of Master Anton Pilgram, there is another way to prove it. Master Pilgram has left a vaulted figure that is identical. It is kept in the library of the Academy of Sciences. The former entrance hall, built in 1513, has been preserved to this day and is located as a component in the chapel of the house. The figures on the drawings in the library resemble those in the chapel down to the smallest detail.

In the first half of the 16th century there was so much building activity that several rooms have been preserved to this day. Especially when you consider that the Gothic style can only be found sporadically in Vienna, because it mostly changed extremely in the centuries after. The important entrance hall is part of the Gothic chapel and you can not only admire it, it is still in use. Today’s sacristy has emerged from the former gatehouse. The Gothic room is particularly splendid and significant due to its unique ceiling. Gothic ceilings and ceiling decorations provide information about the well-developed mathematical knowledge of the builders at that time.

The closest confidante of Emperor Maximillian personally praised the building as early as 1528. He was a man of special format and is still known worldwide. Johannes Cuspinian was a humanist, a great poet of his time and worked as a diplomat in Habsburg service for more than a decade. He was a well-traveled man and had knowledge of the world. He literally called the building “a royal building and with the Hofburg the most important house in Vienna!”

In the past, dignity was not a human right. In the early Middle Ages, the term was not even known in the German language. The Palais Niederösterreich was one of the very first places where human dignity was considered as the basis of all action, as a benchmark. As one of the very first communities in the world, the representatives agreed that individual dignity, not just ethical behavior and negotiation, was essential for good coexistence.

The so-called small presidential parlor became famous in Vienna at that time. The ornate marble portals were of unprecedented beauty. Draftsmen were hired to capture them figuratively. The quality of the workmanship was even praised in textbooks as the absolute highest standard to be achieved and was compared to buildings from antiquity.

The ornate coffered ceiling and the richly carved doors of the large presidential parlor even served as a template for buildings in Nuremberg and Hanover. At that time, the representatives were very well networked, the Palais Niederösterreich often received high numbers of visitors from other countries, and the artistic works always earned applause. And what was felt to be particularly beautiful, they have modeled at home. The art even developed a technical term for this: eclecticism.

The large hall of the Landhaus, built in 1571, was long considered the most important hall in Austria. The celebrated baroque artist Antonio Beduzzi created his main work with the design and the baroque fresco. A baroque painting of this size and type at that time was like a miracle and has lost none of its appeal. Even in diary entries by important Viennese personalities the hall – and especially its fresco – is mentioned. This original baroque wonder can still be admired today.

Beduzzi created his main work with the ceiling fresco in the large hall of the Lower Austrian “Landhaus”. And that’s not all: the ceiling fresco is the largest work of its kind in all of Austria and covers more than 470 m². The beautiful Austria is shown in the center; the “good providence” gives her power through the insignia. She is surrounded by river allegories, they represent the continents, symbolize the extensive power of the Habsburgs and support all plans. Beduzzi has thus achieved a baroque burst of colors. The pompous-theatrical impression inspired the contemporaries.

The lottery game also found its home in the Lower Austrian Landhaus. Just in the year when Napoleon’s troops once again made life difficult for Vienna, the lottery and gambling moved into the Landhaus. From then on, the Landtagssaal was used for lottery draws. A game according to fixed rules has been allowed since the Romans, and in Austria gambling has been an integral part of pleasure since Empress Maria Theresa. She approved the so-called “Lotto di Genova” and also spent a lot of money on it. So it seemed appropriate because gambling was considered elegant enough to use the Landtagssaal for lottery drawings.

Beethoven has submitted twice for the provision of the hall as the location for the performance of his music (1824/25). In the first half of the 19th century, it became fashionable for composers to organize so-called academies on their own. It was the first time that the artist was no longer invited by a high nobility to play, but took the initiative for a concert himself. The Land Marshal was responsible for completing an application and the requesting person often had to wait weeks. Unfortunately, the event did not appear on both occasions. Beethoven was considered to be a man of action and was known for quick execution of his plans, perhaps that was the reason.