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Posts tagged ‘Oesterreichische Nationalbibliothek’

25T64 Inside Prunksaal: Vienna’s imperial baroque library

E63, V11.

It’s a wonder there aren’t more accidental bumps into other people. Instead of heads down (on mobiles), everyone has their head up to soak in the glory, shimmer, and glow. Before raising their mobiles up for a picture or few …

In the early 18th-century, Habsburg Emperor Charles IV ordered the construction in Vienna of an imperial court library in the Baroque style. First designed by Johann Bernard Fischer von Erlach, his son Johann Emanuel completed construction in 1726 with ceiling frescoes added in 1730 from Daniel Gran.

As a big part of the Austrian State Library (ÖNB), the present-day Prunksaal (State Hall) houses over 200-thousand books spanning three centuries from 1501 to 1850. The digitized collection is available to the public from the library’s website; check also for (seasonal) opening times and purchasing tickets in advance.

1st guest of the day, along the southeast-northwest length.
Emperor Charles VI: 1735 marble statue by Antonio Corradini.
Directly above the statue of Charles IV is a ceiling fresco by Daniel Gran in the 30-metre high dome.
“… The fresco high up in the central dome shows the apotheosis of Charles IV: the divination and glorification as Emperor, as commissioner of the Library, and as patron of arts and sciences.” (ÖNB)
Lots of symbols, including obelisk/sunbeam, an imperial flag with “A.E.I.O.U.“, central “coin” celebrating Charles IV, personification of Vienna wearing a mural crown, a beehive with honey (“library containing sweet knowledge”).
Book alcove 7.
Book alcoves 80 (above) and 56 at the far end of the hall/library, next to the Peace wing (northwest).
Entrance wing to the library (southeast).
Building entrance from Josefsplatz.

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 10 July 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.