Buildings of the Ringstrasse:

NOTE: All information and quotations from: Carl E. Schorske's Fin-De-Siecle Vienna: Politics and Culture.

"Hence it expressed itself in the past, borrowing that style whose historical associations were most appropriate to the representational purpose of a given building."

Rathaus (City Hall):

Designed by Friedrich Schmidt (1825-1891), the Rathaus was erected between 1872 and 1883. Vienna's Rathaus was constructed in the Gothic style, representing and celebrating the city's origins as an independent medieval commune. After years of Absolutist rule, Vienna was becoming increasingly liberal, and this is illustrated in the architecture of the City Hall. It is one of the most grand of the numerous monumental buildings along Vienna's Ringstrasse.

The Votivkirche:

The Votivkirche with its two slender towers is one of the best-known neogothic churches in Vienna. The Votivkirche was built to celebrate the emperor's survival, when he was almost shot by a Hungarian nationalist assassin. The royal family and the higher clergy financed the building of the church. "The Votivkirche expressed the unbreakable unity of throne and altar against what Vienna's archbishop, Cardinal von Rauscher, called…“the mortally wounded tiger of Revolution."

Parliament building:

Vienna's Parliament was constructed in the classical Greek style to reflect the democratic ideals of the new parliamentary government adopted by the city of Vienna. Designed by Danish architect Theophil Hansen, the building was designed to give an illusion of height, with the tall pillars and the second-story level entrance. At first, the two houses of legislature were to be in separate buildings of different styles, but all plans were suspended during the Austro-Prussian war. When the building began again, and "a more liberal constitution was established, it was decided in 1869 to unite the two houses in 'a single momumental building of splendor', with a wing for each House."

Burgtheatre:

The Burgtheatre was constructed in early Baroque-style, celebrating the era in which theatre first joined together different classes in a shared enthusiasm for art. The Bugtheatre was meant to set aside political and class distinctions for the pure pleasure of the theatre. The ceiling, decorated by Gustav Klimt, illustrates this through a series of murals: "each mural celebrated the unity of theatre and society, while the series as a whole represented the triumphant absorption of the theatres of the past into the rich eclecticism of Viennese culture."