Ringturm (Ring Tower) is a prominent skyscraper in

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

, and is the headquarters of the

Vienna Insurance Group Vienna Insurance Group AG Wiener Versicherung Gruppe (VIG) with its registered office in Vienna, Austria, is one of the largest international insurance groups in Central and Eastern Europe with approximately 25,000 employees. History History ...

. It was built from 1953 to 1955 after a design by Erich Boltenstern at the Schottenring. The tower is tall, with of office space, and is the second highest building within the Vienna

Ringstraße The Vienna Ring Road (german: Ringstraße, lit. ''ring road'') is a 5.3 km (3.3 mi) circular grand boulevard that serves as a ring road around the historic Innere Stadt (Inner Town) district of Vienna, Austria. The road is located on sites where ...

, after the

Stephansdom St. Stephen's Cathedral (german: Stephansdom) is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP. The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedra ...

. It is a venue for architecture exhibitions, and is known for being turned into a piece of art annually, wrapped in cloth designed by notable artists including

Robert Hammerstiel Robert Hammerstiel (18 February 193323 November 2020) was an Austrian painter and engraver. His works are influenced by Serbian icon painting, wood-cut engraving and pop art. Hammerstiel was internationally recognized and received numerous aw ...

Xenia Hausner Xenia Hausner (born 1951 in Vienna) is an Austrian painter and stage designer. Life Hausner was born into a family of artists. Her father was the Austrian painter Rudolf Hausner. From 1972 to 1976, she studied stage design at the Academy of ...

Arnulf Rainer Arnulf Rainer (born 8 December 1929) is an Austrian painter noted for his abstract informal art. Rainer was born in Baden, Austria. During his early years, Rainer was influenced by Surrealism. In 1950, he founded the ''Hundsgruppe'' (''dog grou ...

and Mihael Milunović.

History

The Ringturm tower was built from 1953 to 1955 after a design by at the Schottenring, part of the Vienna

. The tower of was an innovative project when Vienna was reconstructed after World War II. The building was erected on a property that held the only building of the Schottenring demolished in the war. At 23 floors, it is the second highest building within the Vienna Ringstraße, after the

. The building has of office space, and is the headquarters of the

. It also houses offices of the '. The facade and some other parts were reconstructed in 1996.

Name

The name was found by a competition. It was chosen from 6,502 suggestions, including City-Haus, Gutwill-Haus, Haus der Gegenseitigkeit, Hoch-Eck, Neues Hochhaus and Sonnblick-Haus.

Weather beacon

On top of the tower is a

weather beacon A weather beacon is a beacon that indicates the local weather forecast in a code of colored or flashing lights. Often, a short poem or jingle accompanies the code to make it easier to remember. The beacon is usually on the roof of a tall buil ...

(''Wetterleuchtturm'') in height. Its 117 lamps (39 white, red and green) indicate weather predictions for the following day by partly blinking and moving combinations. It is connected to the ZAMG (

Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik The Central Institution for Meteorology and Geodynamics (german: Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik, ZAMG) is the national meteorological and geophysical service of Austria. It is a subordinate agency of the Federal Ministry of Educ ...

), the centre for weather forecast on the Hohe Warte. The top has two

aircraft warning lights Aviation obstruction lighting is used to enhance the visibility of structures or fixed obstacles which may conflict with the safe navigation of aircraft. Obstruction lighting is commonly installed on towers, buildings, and even fences located i ...

. ;Beacon indicators * red lights increasing in luminosity = rising temperature * red lights decreasing in luminosity = falling temperature * green lights increasing in luminosity = improving weather * green lights decreasing in luminosity = worsening weather * green lights with uniform luminosity = steady weather * red lights blinking = storm warning * white lights blinking = snow or black ice

Exhibition and events

Beginning in 1998, architectural exhibitions have been displayed in the entrance hall free of charge. A series ''Architektur im Ringturm'' is focused on architecture of Austria, Central Europe and Eastern Europe. Regular television series of the ORF have been produced in the building, including ' with Helmut Zilk and '.

''Ringturmverhüllung''

Since 2006, the Ringturm has been transformed into a piece of art each summer by being wrapped in cloth designed by prominent artists from Austria and Eastern Europe. The cloth consists of 30 pieces, each wide and long. The projects have included: * 2006: ''Don Giovanni'' by (on the occasion of a Mozart year) * 2007: ''Turm des Lebens'' by

* 2008: ''Turm in Blüte'' by * 2011: ''Familiensinn'' by

* 2012: '' Gesellschaft'' by from Hungary * 2013: ''Verbundenheit'' by Dorota Sadovská from Serbia * 2014: ''Schleier der Agnes'' by

, 16 June to 17 September, for the first time with an exhibition * 2015: ''Sommerfreuden'' by Tanja Deman from Croatia * 2016: ''Sorgenfrei'' by Ivan Exner from the Czech Republic * 2017: ''Weitblick'' (''Vision'') by Mihael Milunović from Serbia * 2018: ''I Saw This'' by

Gottfried Helnwein Gottfried Helnwein (born 8 October 1948) is an Austrian-Irish visual artist. He has worked as a painter, draftsman, photographer, muralist, sculptor, installation and performance artist, using a wide variety of techniques and media. His work is ...

* 2019: ''Zukunftsträume'' by Daniela Kostova from Bulgaria''Kinderastronaut verhüllt Ringturm''
ORF 10 May 2019, retrieved 10 May 2019. (in German) * 2020: no wrapping due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. * 2022: ''With One Other'' by Dóra Maurer Wien Schottenring (2516031150).jpg, 2008 Wien 01 Ringturm 2013 a.jpg, 2013 Wien 01 Ringturm 2014 b.jpg, 2014 Wien 01 Ringturm 2015 a.jpg, 2015 Wien 01 Ringturm 2016 a.jpg, 2016 Wien 01 Ringturm 2017 a.jpg, 2017 Wien 01 Ringturm 2018 a.jpg, 2018 Wien 01 Ringturm 2019 a.jpg, 2019

References

External links

Foto: Ringturm in Bau
(image from during construction), Vienna, 2005 * Daniela Hahn
Wiener Hochhausarchitektur
Universität Wien 2011

Vienna Insurance Group {{authority control Buildings and structures completed in the 1950s Buildings and structures in Innere Stadt Skyscrapers in Vienna