Kilkenny, Ireland

Closed

I learned about the site in university and just thought it was so big and fascinating. And that such a big architecture could actually burn down made me sad. I would have loved to climb up those stairs and look over my hometown Vienna. Mirabelle S.

Vienna held the world exhibition in 1873 both with excitement and an economic disaster. The “Rotunde” was the impressive landmark of this era. Witness to one of the most fascinating times in the history of Vienna (“Vienna 1900”) the Rotunde finally burned down just before Austria became part of the Nazi-Reich and history changed once again dramatically. The legacy and heritage of this time defines the character of the city until today. I sometimes imagine to time-travel into this epoch. Markus W.

The Rotunde was a building in Vienna’s Leopoldstadt district for the 1873 Vienna World’s Fair. It was constructed from wrought iron. At the time, the dome was the largest in the world. It was designed by Baron Karl von Hasenauer. The building proved popular and after the Fair it was used for shows and fairs. It burned down in 1937. The painting is based on on an old postcard.