Theophil Hansen 200, Ringturm, Bécs, 18. 04 – 14. 06. 2013

Text: György Szegő

Kempinski Hotel Palais Hansen, Bécs, 1873/2013, áttervezte: Boris Podrecca

Born in Copenhagen as a child of a Norwegian father and a Danish mother just 200 years ago, Theophil Hansen is rated as a significant architect of the 19th century. He travelled a all over Europe with stopover in Athens, Berlin, Innsbruck, Verona and Venice. However, his most influential period was that spent in Ringstrasse, Vienna. Edward Schaubert, the urbanist and designer of Athens was fascinated with Hansen’s architecture representing the modern-antique architecture excellently embodying the national ideology of the re-born Greek state. As a result of the success of the designs for Athens, the Greek-Hungarian-Austrian-born count Georg Simon von Sina a bank ceasar invited Hansen to Vienna, where he was to construct the most important buildings of the new Ringstrasse: the Parliament, the Stock Exchange, the Musikverein, the Ephrussi, the Epstein and the Hansen palaces.