The ''Palais Toskana'' was a

palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

.¹

History

It was constructed in 1867 for the

Archduke Leopold Salvator of Austria Archduke Leopold Salvator, Prince of Tuscany (Leopold Salvator Maria Joseph Ferdinand Franz von Assisi Karl Anton von Padua Johann Baptist Januarius Aloys Gonzaga Rainer Wenzel Galius von Österreich-Toskana) (15 October 1863 – 4 September ...

. The

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

is unknown; the facade may have been designed by

Carl Tietz Carl Tietz (25 January 1831 – 3 August 1874) was a German architect who practiced in Austria. Life and career Tietz was born in Jastrow and came from a humble background. He completed an apprenticeship as a bricklayer and later worked as a ...

. The palace was up to four stories high, and was built in

neo-classic style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

with elaborate figural

decoration Decoration may refer to: * Decorative arts * A house painter and decorator's craft * An act or object intended to increase the beauty of a person, room, etc. * An award that is a token of recognition to the recipient intended for wearing Other ...

in its middle part. In the back part there was a large garden which extended all the way to that of the

Palais Rothschild Palais Rothschild refers to a number of palaces in Vienna, Austria, which were owned by members of the Austrian branch of the Rothschild banking family. Apart from their sheer size and elegance, they were famous for the huge collections of valua ...

. The palace was slightly damaged during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The descendants of the

archduke Archduke (feminine: Archduchess; German: ''Erzherzog'', feminine form: ''Erzherzogin'') was the title borne from 1358 by the Habsburg rulers of the Archduchy of Austria, and later by all senior members of that dynasty. It denotes a rank within ...

could not afford the repair costs and sold the estate. The palace then was torn down. For decades the palace location was used as a parking lot by employees of the

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...

public broadcasting company. Recently a nondescript modern building has been erected there.Dieter Klein, Martin Kupf, Robert Schediwy (Hrsg.) Stadtbildverluste Wien - Ein Rückblick auf fünf Jahrzehnte. LIT Verlag, Vienna 2005.

Notes

¹ Address was at Argentinierstraße 29, in the IV. District

Wieden Wieden (; Central Bavarian: ''Wiedn'') is the 4th municipal district of Vienna, Austria (german: 4. Bezirk). It is near the centre of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but its borders were changed later. Wieden is a small region ...

References

Toskana Neoclassical architecture in Austria Demolished buildings and structures in Austria {{Austria-palace-stub