The Rotunda of the 1873 Vienna International Exhibition

The Rotunda of the 1873 Vienna International Exhibition

Austria hosted a world's fair in 1873, as it aimed to present itself as a world leader and the equal of England and France. The structure that served as the focal point and ideological locus for the Vienna Exhibition was its striking Rotunda, a feat of engineering and design, which is pictured during the fair's opening ceremonies on May 1, 1873.

On that day, the streets of the Ringstrasse were wet with a cold drizzle. More than twenty thousand Viennese citizens came out to see the festivities, yet the area around the Rotunda, Leopoldstadt and Praterstern, did not seem even half full. Emperor Francis Joseph appeared at noon, signaling the beginning of the ceremonies. The program was unusually brief; it concluded in less than thirty minutes and lacked any type of formal speech. However, the one characteristic that immortalized that day was the music. The strains of the Imperial Opera's orchestra and the voices of two Viennese Glee Clubs united in performing Handel's March, the waltzes of Strauss, and the Austrian national hymn.

While the music emerged as a high point of the initial celebrations, the atmosphere in Vienna during the fair seemed rather half-hearted. For the past several years, the nation had been enjoying a period of economic growth and domestic prosperity. However, just a fortnight after these opening ceremonies, the Austrian stock market underwent a severe crash, wreaking havoc on the domestic economy. This frustrated the efforts of the Austrians to convey a strong impression to the international community. Ironically, it also seemed that while other countries experienced success in selling their national products to the fair visitors, the Austrian displays lay untouched. For these reasons, the atmosphere in Vienna during the fair was not as jubilant as had been seen at other exhibitions. However, the crash occurred after the Rotunda was built, so the budget for the construction of the Rotunda strikes one as fairly impressive. In July 1871, the original amount allocated for its building was 6,000,000 florins. However, in September of 1872, an additional 6,000,000 florins was added.

The website image is an 8 X 11 inch black and white engraving that appeared in the periodical Kunst und Kunstgeverbe auf der Werner Weltasstelling. One can note the presence of a small crowd, in their finest attire inside the building. It seems logical that this picture was sketched by an artist who had been present during the ceremony.