The Palace of Justice () is the seat of the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

(''Oberster Gerichtshof'') of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. The

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

building erected from 1875 to 1881 is located in the Austrian capital

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

on Schmerlingplatz, a square near the

Ringstraße The Ringstrasse or Ringstraße (pronounced Help:IPA/Standard German, �ɪŋˌʃtʁaːsə:File:De-Ringstraße.ogg, ⓘ, lit. ''ring road'') is a 5.3 km (3.3 mi) circular grand boulevard that serves as a ring road around the historic city centre, ...

boulevard in the central

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Innere Stadt The Innere Stadt (; ; "Inner City") is the 1st municipal Districts of Vienna, district of Vienna () located in the center of the Austrian capital. The Innere Stadt is the old town of Vienna. Until the city boundaries were expanded in 1850, the I ...

. In addition to the Supreme Court, the Palace of Justice houses the Higher Regional Court of Vienna and the Regional Court for Civil Matters Vienna and the General Prosecution and the Supreme Public Prosecutor for Vienna.

History

The building was projected by the

Historicist Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...

architect Alexander Wielemans von Monteforte (1843–1911) as the new residence of the Supreme Court established in the course of the 1848 revolutions and headed by President Anton von Schmerling since 1865. In the Austrian

July Revolt of 1927 The July Revolt of 1927 (also known as the Vienna Palace of Justice fire, ) was a major riot starting on 15 July 1927 in the Austrian capital, Vienna. The revolt was sparked by the acquittal of three nationalist paramilitary members for the ki ...

, violent demonstrations took place after a jury had acquitted several

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

paramilitaries who during an armed conflict with

Social Democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

Schutzbund members in Schattendorf had shot a disabled World War I veteran and an eight-year-old child. In the morning of July 15 numerous protesters gathered in front of the

Austrian Parliament Building The Austrian Parliament Building (, colloquially ''das Parlament'') in Vienna is the meeting place of the two houses of the Austrian Parliament. The building is located on the in the first district, ''Innere Stadt'', near Hofburg Palace and t ...

but were pushed towards Schmerlingplatz by the mounted police force. Several demonstrators broke into the ground-floor rooms and began to demolish furniture and files. At about half past twelve, the Palace was set on fire. During their attempts to extinguish the fire the Vienna firefighters were attacked, hoses were cut and hydrants ran out of water. The fire rapidly spread out all over the building and it took until the early morning to get it under control. Between 1929 and 1931 the palace was restored with significant modifications of the façade and the addition of a new level. The restoration, in a historicist style, was carried out by Viennese architects Heinrich Ried and Alfred Keller. In a sweeping general renovation a few years ago, the Palace was forced to meet both the stringent requirements of monument protection as well as those of a modern office in order to provide proper service to litigants.

References

External links

360° Panorama in the main hall
* {{coord, 48, 12, 23, N, 16, 21, 26, E, source:dewiki, display=title Buildings and structures in Vienna Buildings and structures in Innere Stadt Courthouses National supreme court buildings 1881 establishments in Austria 19th-century architecture in Austria

History

See also

References

External links