“What Should Happen with the Half-Finished Building?”

The end of the Monarchy meant the Vienna Hofburg was robbed of its function overnight. The older sections of the residence were used by various government bodies and institutions, or as apartments, but the future of the Neue Burg was still completely open. The fitting out of the interior had been abandoned during the First World War, and after it the young Republic, as the new owner of the complex, could not afford to finish the job.

There was also a decisive question that needed answering, summarised in an article in the newspaper Neues Wiener Tageblatt on 29 April 1920: “We first need to know what is to be done with this building before the work is finished; how the construction should progress depends on its purpose.” There was no shortage of ideas for the future use of the Neue Burg: they ranged from a palace hotel to a casino, a wine bar, a cinema and a large “pleasure establishment”. But the greatest interest came from the Art and Natural History Museum and the National Library. Both institutions were already based in the former residence complex and were urgently in need of more space. When the federal Austrian administration officially took possession of the Hofburg in autumn 1921, the first step had been taken. The priority was now to make the building turn a profit, and a temporary tenant was soon found in the form of the Vienna Trade Fair. The new tenant did not need all the interiors to be finished because for the time being they only wanted the vast staircase and the rooms next to it. The following year, the art historian Hans Tietze developed a plan for museum reform on behalf of the Education Ministry. In 1924 the federal government passed a resolution designating the Neue Burg a location for museums and libraries.

To finance the redevelopment, the state planned to rent out the ground floor to a private café and restaurant operator. The other floors were to be shared between the Art and National History Museum and the National Library. But the deal to find a paying tenant for the ground-level spaces failed, so the future users of the upper floors had to wait until a new source of funding was found. Eventually, the Ethnological Museum, today the Weltmuseum, was the first to move into the building in 1928. However, this was just the start of a “tug of war for the castle” between the various museums and institutions, which would last for decades.

View of the gallery and the staircase of the central wing of the New Castle - both are still without furnishings (the chandeliers are missing, for example).

Black-and-white photograph of the still unfinished entrance hall in the central wing of the Neue Burg. Some of the walls are still unplastered, the floor is dirty. Only a simple lamp hangs from the ceiling.

Handwritten letter on blue paper from Petrus Eder to the President of the Republic. He puts forward the idea of building a wine tavern on the roof of the Hofburg.

Printed commemorative pamphlet with the "Title Pro Memoria", in which, among other things, the idea for a casino in the Hofburg is mentioned.

Coloured floor plan of the central wing of the New Castle. A large cinema hall is marked in the garden halls on the left, another room is labelled "Spielcasino". The halls to the right of the central entrance are marked Coffee and Restaurant.

Newspaper article with the headline "The cinema in the Hofburg".

The schematic ground floor plan of the Neue Burg shows the planned uses. The museum rooms facing Heldenplatz are highlighted in red, while the rooms for a café and restaurant facing the Burggarten are highlighted in blue.

The schematic plan of the mezzanine of the Neue Burg shows the planned uses. Most of the rooms in the middle wing are intended for museum use (these are highlighted in red). The rooms facing the library courtyard (Bibliothekshof) and the rooms in the festival hall wing (Festsaaltrakt) are highlighted in blue - they are designated as festival rooms.

The schematic plan of the 1st floor of the Neue Burg shows the planned uses. Most of the rooms in the middle wing are intended for museum use (these are highlighted in red). The rooms against the library courtyard and the rooms in the banqueting hall wing are highlighted in blue - they are intended for use by the National Library.

Black and white photo of an exhibition showcase with several objects

In the ground floor plan of the Neue Burg, the planned showrooms of the Ethnological Museum are marked in blue. These are the garden halls in the direction of the Burggarten and parts of the segmental wing in the direction of the Ringstrasse wing, where the museum was previously located.

Back