This plan of the Vienna fair of 1873 forms one plate of a pamphlet entitled "Weltausstellung 1873 Wien" which measures about eight by ten inches, and was probably sold at the fair as a souvenir and guide.
By 1873 Vienna held a somewhat tarnished image in the minds of the rest of the world. The Austria-Hungary Empire had lost a significant amount of land and power over the last two decades, and a war with France, as well as conflicts with Prussia had triggered internal social and economic upheavals. Austria had several goals for the fair. It wanted to showcase its economic reconstruction, and Vienna's progress in city planning. It meant to eradicate its current reputation as an unstable country. According to fair commissioner Raimond Scramm, Vienna was also trying to position itself as a center of exchange between the East and the West.
Scramm's statement is supported by the fact that it was the Lower Austrian Trade Association that proposed the exposition in 1870. The current Emperor Franz Joseph approved the idea and put Wilhelm von Schwarz-Sendborn, the man who had organized Austrian exhibits at previous world's fairs, in charge. Schwarz-Sendborn wanted "a truly universal exhibition , that would embrace every field on which human intellect has been at work" (87, Thurston). Changed from the initial label of "Welt-Industrieausstellung (International Industry Exhibition)," the name of the fair was chosen to represent the principle of universalism. It was finally baptized "Weltausstellung", meaning International Exhibition.
Vienna's Prater Park, located in the northeast section of the city, was chosen as the exposition site. The park was approximately 4,000 acres and consisted of lawns, gardens, and forests. It was five times larger than the Champ de Mars in Paris, and easily accessible by foot, rail, boat, and road. Surrounded by the Danube River and Canal, the park was an isolated island that would have been ideal for a fair. The earliest mention of the Prater Park was in 1162, when it was a favorite hunting ground for royalty and aristocrats. Emperor Joseph II opened the park to the public in 1766. Today, it still operates as an amusement park, attracting tourists from around the world.
This fair was the first exposition to use multiple buildings instead of one main structure. As displays became more numerous, it became increasingly difficult to fit everything into just one structure, and the Austrian government decided to construct separate buildings to display different aspects of human activity.
The most prominent feature on the map is the Rotunda, the enclosed circular building just to the left of the center of the map. The rotunda was actually just one part of the Palace of Industry, which expanded on either side to form a horizontal strip about 2.953 feet long, running from east to west (this is seen as the narrow horizontal strip bisecting the Rotunda on the map), with shorter corridors intersecting it. This created a series of twenty-eight galleries that displayed an international array of industrial products. The palace was designed to be a permanent structure, and was used after the exposition to hold trade shows. When it burned down in 1937, new trade fair exhibition halls were built that still remain in use today.
The Machinery Hall ran parallel to, and was located north of, the main building, towards the top of the map. It was 2060 feet long and 125 feet wide. It consisted in a single room, 60 feet high, and was built with brick walls and an iron roof. The building could accommodate two parallel railway tracks, and was reused as a storage building for the Great Northern Railway after the fair was over.
The Art Hall, directly to the east of the rotunda and main exposition buildings.. It was 100 by 600 feet and made of brick, with stucco finish on the outside. It held mostly paintings, with a few statues and statuettes dispersed throughout. Art exhibits were divided into three categories: fine art, religious art, and amateur art.
For national exhibits, Schwartz-Senborn gave countries space on what he personally thought their economic position in the world was, with the more economically prominent countries receiving more space. This, of course, angered some countries, especially Germany, who disagreed with its ranking. To make amends, this country was given permission to extend its displays through the use of vast annexes throughout the fair site. The position of various countries at the fair was determined by their relative position on the globe. The were located, from east to west: Japan, China, Turkey, Egypt, Russia, Greece, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, France, Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, Brazil, South America, and finally the United States. Smaller pavilions, not visible on the map, were interspersed between the main halls. There were arcades, dance halls, restaurants.
The Baron's vision of a grand universal event failed to materialize. About half of the exposition space was reserved for Vienna's own exhibits, while the other half was given to showcase the rest of the world. The United States didn't realize how significant the fair was until it was too late to prepare an exhibit, and were sorely missing from the exposition. Great Britain did not display anything new, and France had just been defeated in the Franco-Prussian war, and was not equipped to prepare a comprehensive exhibit.
Vienna's reputation also did not improve as a result of the fair. The site itself wasn't even ready when the exposition was officially opened, adding to the view of Austria as a perpetually unprepared country. Days after the opening ceremony, the Viennese stock market crashed, causing a depression and severe unemployment. There was also an outbreak of cholera during the summer of the fair, and a flood that damaged buildings towards the end. This, and the fact that vendors were charging high prices for their goods and services, discouraged visitors from coming to the exposition. Vienna never held another world fair after 1873.
-Ly Y. Bui
Findling, John E., Historical Dictionary of World's Fairs and Expositions, 1851-1988 New York: Greenwood Press, 1990
Gindriez, Charles, International Exhibitions New York: A.S. Barnes & Company, 1878
Scramm, Raimond, The World's Fairs: Letters on International Exhibitions by a Commissioner to Vienna in 1873 Geneva: Printing Office of the Continent and Swiss Times, 1879
Thurston, Robert Henry, Reports of the Commissioners of the United States to the International Exhibition held at Vienna, 1873 Washington: Government Print Office, 1876
Author unknown, Great Britain Royal Commission for the Vienna Universal Exhibition of 1873 London: H.M. Stationary Office, 1874
Austria hosted a world's fair in 1873, as it aimed to present itself as a world leader and the
equal of England and France. The structure that served as the focal point and ideological locus
for the Vienna Exhibition was its striking Rotunda, a feat of engineering and design, which is
pictured here during the fair's opening ceremonies on May 1, 1873.
On that day, the streets of the Ringstrasse were wet with a cold drizzle. More than
twenty thousand Viennese citizens came out to see the festivities, yet the area around the
Rotunda, Leopoldstadt and Praterstern, did not seem even half full. Emperor Francis Joseph
appeared at noon, signaling the beginning of the ceremonies. The program was unusually brief;
it concluded in less than thirty minutes and lacked any type of formal speech. However, the one
characteristic that immortalized that day was the music. The strains of the Imperial Opera's
orchestra and the voices of two Viennese Glee Clubs united in performing Handel's March, the
waltzes of Strauss, and the Austrian national hymn.
While the music emerged as a high point of the initial celebrations, the atmosphere in
Vienna during the fair seemed rather half-hearted. For the past several years, the nation had been
enjoying a period of economic growth and domestic prosperity. However, just a fortnight after
these opening ceremonies, the Austrian stock market underwent a severe crash, wreaking havoc
on the domestic economy. This frustrated the efforts of the Austrians to convey a strong
impression to the international community. Ironically, it also seemed that while other countries
experienced success in selling their national products to the fair visitors, the Austrian displays lay
untouched. For these reasons, the atmosphere in Vienna during the fair was not as jubilant as had
been seen at other exhibitions. However, the crash occurred after the Rotunda was built, so the
budget for the construction of the Rotunda strikes one as fairly impressive. In July 1871, the
original amount allocated for its building was 6,000,000 florins. However, in September of
1872, an additional 6,000,000 florins was added.
The website image is an 8 X 11 inch black and white engraving that appeared in the periodical
Kunst und Kunstgeverbe auf der Werner Weltasstelling. One can note the presence
of a small crowd, in their finest attire inside the building. It seems logical that this picture was
sketched by an artist who had been present during the ceremony. This picture accurately shows
the elaborate interior of the building, with its decorative ceiling panels and archways. This
building was inspired by the style of the Italian Renaissance. One architect that is intimately
associated with this genre is Andrea Palladio (1508-1580). His best known work may be the
Villa Rotunda, which took its cue from the Pantheon in Rome. (Ree) Palladio's innovative
design would earn the admiration and respect of many as a major architectural achievement.
Having the central hall in a circular form also provides more floor area for the amount of wall
surfaces, and gives a feeling of open space.
The foundation for the Vienna Rotunda was tenuous from the beginning; it rested on the moist
earth that was often flooded by the annual springtime swelling of the nearby Danube River.
Indeed, the solid earth only extended six feet beneath the structure; below that was the moist and
unstable Danube waterbed. Miraculously, the spring of 1873 was unusually dry and water did
not creep into the foundations. To counteract this softer ground, piles of cement were first laid,
topped by blocks of brick covered by stone slabs, which formed the actual supports for the iron
columns. These piles stood four feet above the ground, to ensure the stability of the foundation.
The outside walls of the structure were composed of cement and stucco, with the lower portions
in imitation stone. A circular arcade surrounded this area and led into four gardens.
The engineer for the Vienna Rotunda was J. Scott Russell, who utilized 4,000 tons of iron.
Including its topmost crown which was 60 feet tall, its height reached to 284 feet. The diameter
of the dome itself was 440 feet, with a circumference of 1,080 feet and peak of 284 feet. Its
structure consisted of 32 pairs of columns of iron each 80 feet tall. It is estimated that these
columns, which had been reinforced with iron plating, each individually bore the weight of 109
tons. These iron columns provided the only physical support for the dome. The supporting
columns were connected by an iron circular girder riveted together on the site. In a display of
modern technology, this ring was then raised by hydraulic lift, with the columns placed under it
as it was elevated. Radial girders 200 feet long were bolted to the girder at its top and bottom.
These measurements place the Vienna Rotunda as the largest of its kind. By comparison, it was
3.17 times larger than the dome of St. Paul's cathedral in London, 2.26 than that of St. Peter's in
Rome, and 2.22 larger than the Crystal Palace in London.
The underside of the dome was covered with canvas which was laced though rings under each
of the radial girders. This underside was then graced with drawings 21 feet across, lending a
"fresco-like" appearance to the material.
Despite the mechanical perfection that this structure seemed to have attained, it was
erected in an amazingly short amount of time. In September 1872, just months prior to the fair
opening, the Rotunda "..wore the look of a prematurely ruined Coliseum..." (Gindriez, 23) It
was only in the two weeks preceding the opening ceremony that the last layer of gravel was laid
in front of the entrance. At this time scaffolding still shrouded the south and west portals. Floor
finishing and the provision of chairs had yet to be addressed. It is estimated that the night of
April 13, more than 15,000 workers were present in an attempt to bring the effort up to schedule.
To speed construction, Austria even received by railway iron plates and pillars from Belgium and
northern Germany.
The Vienna Rotunda was a grand structure that served as the heart of the exhibition. It
was built on Austria's hopes of proving itself to the world, although this country still had difficult
times ahead. However, the use of this impressive architecture granted a sense of elegance and
nobility to the opening ceremonies.
-Anna Burrows
Gindriez, Charles. World's Fair International Exhibitions
A.S. Barnes & Co., New York, 1878.
U.S. Commission to the Vienna Exhibition. Reports, United States Commissioners,
Vienna International Exhibition.
Washington D.C., Gov't. Print off. 1876. Volume 4.
"Earlier Architecture In Vienna" by "Earlier Architecture in Austria"
Octavina Ciupitu, 1995.
http://arch.kth.se/hemsidor/otherhome/octavianhome/Austria/vienna.html
"The Ringstrasse" and "The Prater" by ViennaSlide.
http://viennaslide.com/e-start.htm
Ree Paul van der. Italian Villas and Gardens:a corse di disegno. Amsterdam. Prestel.
1992