The Neue Burg palace on Heldenplatz square is one of Austria’s most important sites of memory, functioning as a symbol of the country's National Socialist history. The area above the building's main entrance is often described as the “Hitler balcony”. It was from this spot, on 15 March 1938, that Adolf Hitler announced to a jubilant crowd of over 200,000 followers that Austria was now part of the National Socialist German Reich.

Strictly speaking, it's not actually a balcony, which would have to be mounted in a free-floating manner, but a terrace. In the technical language of art history, this kind of architectural element is referred to as an altan.

It was not only Nazi propaganda that made use of the terrace. The location was used in many different ways throughout the 20th century. During the period of “Red Vienna” and the Dollfuss-Schuschnigg dictatorship, the altan was already being used to address large crowds at events on Heldenplatz square. But it was with Hitler's speech on the “Anschluss” ("annexation") of Austria that the meaning of the site came to be defined by the country's Nazi history. After 1945, it was above all the images of a sea of people under the “balcony” that were taken as evidence of the enthusiasm of so many Austrians for National Socialism. By the “Commemorative Year” in 1988, Austrians had begun to engage critically with this history — and the Heldenplatz and the “Hitler balcony” came to occupy a central place in the Austrian politics of memory and commemoration.

Join the ongoing discussion about ideas for how the altan might look if it ever becomes accessible to the public at heldenplatz.hdgoe.at.

Research: Stefan Benedik, Bernhard Hachleitner

Texts: Stefan Benedik, Bernhard Hachleitner, Eva Meran, Monika Sommer, Heidemarie Uhl

English Translation: Paul Richards

Editing: Antonia Heidl