The Vienna Hofburg from 1705 until 1835

The Hofburg in Vienna is "Europe`s largest complex of secular buildings and one of the world`s most significant examples of palace architecture" (Dehio, Vienna 2003, 384). Its historical significance and importance in the developments of architecture and the arts are high and conditional to each other - and yet only few attempts have been made, until today, to position the Hofburg in art and culture sciences as a research topic and to give it the importance it deserves. The subject of this application is part of a comprehensive research project, initiated by the "Kommission für Kunstgeschichte" der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (the art history commission of the Austrian Academy of Sciences) under the chairmanship of Univ. Prof. Dr. Artur Rosenauer. Electronic access to the huge number of Hofburg-related plans and drawings - the digitisation of which has already started - is a basic requirement for the implementation of the here envisaged studies; it is the first time that activities and events in the Hofburg`s planning and building history can be documented and assessed in a complete manner. In time, this project covers the period between 1705 (when Joseph I came to the throne) and 1835 (death of emperor Franz II/I); in epochs, it includes High and Late Baroque, Rococo, and Neo-Classicism. A characteristic feature of this period is, on the one side, the creation of idealised building concepts in elaborate plans and schemes, all of them in full compliance with the standards of the most recent architectural theories. On the other side, the design of buildings that actually were executed was, as a rule, marked by high respect of the historically grown ensemble of the residential district. Methodologically, this means that the Hofburg and its planning and building activities must be studied in different ways and from different angles, of which especially the comparatistic view to contemporary planning campaigns and existing residence buildings in the whole of Europe will promise new insight.

The Hofburg in Vienna is ` Europe`s largest complex of secular buildings and orte of the world`s most significant examples of palace architecture" (Dehio, Vienna 2003, 384). Its historical significance and importance in the developments of architecture and the arts are high and conditional to each other - and yet only few attempts have been made, until today, to position the Hofburg in art and culture sciences as a research topic and to give it the importance it deserves. The subject of this application is part of a comprehensive research project, initiated by the "Kommission für Kunstgeschichte" der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (the art history commission of the Austrian Academy of Sciences) under the chairmanship of Univ. Prof. Dr. Artur Rosenauer. Electronic access to the huge number of Hofburg-related plans and drawings - the digitisation of which has already started - is a basic requirement for the implementation of the here envisaged studies; it is the ferst time that activities and events in the Hofburg`s planning and building history can be documented and assessed in a complete manner. In time, this project covers the period between 1705 (when Joseph I came to the throne) and 1835 (death of emperor Franz II/I); in epochs, it includes High and Late Baroque, Rococo, and Neo-Classicism. A characteristic feature of this period is, an the orte side, the creation of idealised building concepts in elaborate plans and schemes, all of them in full compliance with the standards of the most recent architectural theories. On the other side, the design of buildings that actually were executed was, as a rule, marked by high respect of the historically grown ensemble of the residential district. Methodologically, this means that the Hofburg and its planning and building activities must be studied in different ways and from different angles, of which especially the comparatistic view to contemporary planning campaigns and existing residence buildings in the whole of Europe will promise new insight.