Foundation stone laid for the PANORAMA VIENNA in the Vienna Prater

 

Vienna, June 21, 2022. Adjacent to Freudplatz, at Zufahrtsstraße 154, 1020 Vienna, construction began in the spring of 2022 on a 33-meter-tall rotunda. The laying of the cornerstone marked the start of construction. Vienna is gaining a “Panorama”—an exhibition format that has never before existed in Austria.

 

District Chairman Alexander Nikolai, representatives of Prater Wien GmbH and the Vienna Prater Association, as well as project partners, neighbors, and friends, attended the groundbreaking ceremony.

 

“I am truly delighted that PANORAMA VIENNA is being built right here, where culture, entertainment, education, modern architecture, and tradition come together in a unique way—thanks to the Prater, the neighboring hotels, and Sigmund Freud University,” said Ilona Cardoso Vicente, B.B.A.

Historical origins led to the project idea

 

Just a few hundred meters from the Prater, a domed structure was built for the 1873 World’s Fair, which became the central symbol of the exhibition. As early as 1801, the Irishman Robert Barker, the inventor of the panorama, had opened the first panorama rotunda on the European continent in Vienna’s Prater—a wooden rotunda on the main avenue.

 

The Rotunda, built in 1873 and nicknamed “Gugelhupf” by the Viennese, was by far the largest domed structure in the world at the time. After the World’s Fair, it hosted one-of-a-kind exhibitions, magnificent celebrations, and performances in a wide variety of fields. When it burned down on September 17, 1937, there was widespread talk of the loss of a significant cultural site for the city of Vienna. This made the project concept clear: a circular building was to be rebuilt on this site, dedicated to hosting cultural events.

 

“I welcome the creation of this new attraction, a highlight for the Prater, the district, and the city of Vienna,” said District Chairman Alexander Nikolai. “We are very pleased that, after such a long time and thanks to everyone working together—in a positive way—the final go-ahead has now been given for this fantastic project,” said Mag. Michael Prohaska, CEO of Prater Wien GmbH.

 

The First Exhibition

 

The building is designed to display images whose scale and dimensions can only be experienced in a panorama. “Most people have never seen such a large image—an image they will never forget. No photograph or film can replace this fascinating experience,” said Ilona Cardoso Vicente, B.A. in Business Administration.