Neue Burg as a Trade Fair Venue

The rooms that were intended for their Majesties to live in, as well as the whole splendid staircase, are [...] occupied by firms selling shoes, clothing and furs, most of which did not even exist before the outbreak of the Great War. Ugly, strident advertising billboards cover the so-beautiful marble walls and a quite different public populates these rooms now from the one for whom it was intended. Nothing could better symbolise the change of times.” These accusatory words about how the former residence building was serving as a trade fair venue featured in a 1932 publication about the architectural history of the Neue Burg. 
After the end of the Monarchy, numerous political and legal changes were needed in order to decide on the future of the Neue Burg. There were no applicable legal provisions, nor a clear usage plan, which meant in the first few years the space could only be let temporarily. The only permanent tenant was the Vienna Trade Fair, founded in 1921. The Neue Burg was one of three locations for the Trade Fair, the other two being the Rotunda in the Prater and the imperial stables, used under the name “Messepalast” (“Fair Palace”, today the MuseumsQuartier). Between 1921 and 1936, a total of 32 spring and autumn trade fairs took place in this section of the Hofburg. For the first time, some parts of the Middle Tract of the Neue Burg were open to the public. The products were presented in the imposing staircase space, which rose up through the whole height of the building. Later they were shown in the still unfinished rooms on the Burggarten side. The trade fair company Messe AG rented the building on the condition that it would gradually continue the interior fitting-out of the garden halls. During this period, the Austrian state, as the Hofburg’s owner, lacked the funds to develop it into a museum and library building—as had been decided in 1924.