| Volksgarten | |
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| Type | Public park |
| Location | Innere Stadt, Vienna, Austria |
| Area | 5 ha |
| Opened | 1823 |
| Status | Open year-round |
| Website | www |
The Volksgarten (People's Garden) is a public park in the Innere Stadt, the first district of Vienna, Austria. Opened in 1823, it was Vienna's first public park.
In 1809, following France's decisive victory over Austria in the War of the Fifth Coalition, French troops occupying Vienna destroyed a major defensive bastion of the Hofburg, the Burgbastei. Instead of rebuilding it, the area around the Hofburg was redesigned. Court architect Ludwig Gabriel von Remy planned the construction of what is now known as the Heldenplatz, flanked on either side by two parks: the Volksgarten and the Burggarten. Remy collaborated with gardener Franz Antoine the Elder, who was responsible for the horticultural design. [1]
During the park’s construction, architect Pietro Nobile designed the Theseustempel, a recreation of the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens, built specifically to house Theseus Slaying the Centaur, a statue by Antonio Canova. The adjacent Paradeisgartel, located on the fortification wall, was redesigned during the creation of the Volksgarten and later connected to the park by a ramp.
The park was officially opened on 1 May 1823. Two coffee houses, one in the Volksgarten and one in the Paradeisgartel, were constructed, both owned by Peter Corti. The coffee houses attracted many visitors and hosted numerous concerts, including performances by Joseph Lanner and Johann Strauss I. [2]
The park was expanded during the construction of the Ringstraße. The wall separating it from Heldenplatz was removed, allowing for an outward extension. [3] Between 1883 and 1884, the Volksgarten was further expanded by Franz Antoine the Younger. However, this section was later redesigned by Friedrich Ohmann between 1903 and 1907. [4]
The Volksgarten was originally intended to be replaced by the Kaiserforum, with a mirrored wing of the Neue Hofburg planned for its location. However, the outbreak of World War I and the subsequent collapse of Austria-Hungary rendered the project obsolete.
The Volksgarten on the side of the Hofburg is designed as an English-style park with trees in an loose avenue formation, and on the Ringstraßen side as a French Baroque garden with a more architecturally rigid layout.
Between the entrance near the Burgtheater and the Grillparzer Monument is a rose garden featuring over 3,000 rose bushes representing more than 200 varieties. The central area consists of rose beds enclosed by boxwood hedges, containing the majority of the roses. The garden’s perimeter features the largest variety of roses, arranged in successive rows of standard roses followed by climbing roses. Most rose varieties within the garden are labeled. [5]
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