Not only two female singers and two male singers survived the horrible fire in the Viennese Ringtheater in December 1881 but columns were under the survivors too. These theatre columns were still usable and cheap. That’s why they were included into the building of the church Kaisermühlenkirche at the Schüttauplatz. A place from where one easily can walk to the ”coldest part of Vienna”. Where a special track commemorates the ice extraction out of the Old Danube and the name reminds us of the discovery of the „Franz Josefs Lands“ in the Northern Arctic Sea.
Two clocks “survived” the fire of the Viennese Ringtheater too. They can be seen in the Clock Museum of the Wien Museum. As is the famous watch and clock collection of Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach.
And there is another Ringtheater memento. To commemorate the catastrophe the emperor gave private money for an imperial trust building (block of flats with a chapel for commemoration) at the Schottenring. Built from 1882 to 1886 by the architect of the Viennes town hall by Friedrich Schmidt. He lived in the house himself to encourage others to take a flat there. And for a small additional job – checking the building’s condition – his rent was reduced.
Not only with the topic Ringtheater but with many other portraits in my Viennese Portrait Gallery I knit a knowledge net with Viennese stories – and I have been doing this for a year now. A net that connects districts and events of the Viennese history. Just like “acquire it to own it” and first of all to enjoy it!!
Viennese History-Sources:
„Wien wäre anders, wenn… – Bekanntes und noch mehr Unbekanntes aus Wien“ (Vienna would be different if … – Known and unknown facts about Vienna) by Franz Hawla, Edition Volkshochschule, Verband Wiener Volksbildung 1999, Seite 113
Information Uhrenmuseum of the Wien Museum
„Friedrich von Schmidt (1825 – 1891). Ein gotischer Rationalist.“ (Friedrich von Schmidt (1825 – 1891). A Gothic rationalist.) Exhibition catalogue by Peter Haiko, Renata Kassal-Mikul, Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien, Wien, 1991
