When the starting signal for the renovation was given in the summer of 2017, Austria was in the election campaign for the National Council. More than five years later there have been two National Council elections, a handful of male and female Federal Chancellors, as well as several changes of ministers in the government and two National Council elections – and now there is a completely renovated parliament.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the planned opening was delayed several times, on Thursday the National Council, the Federal Council and the employees of Parliament will return to the Theophil-Hansen-Bau am Ring. The ceremony includes speeches by National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka (ÖVP), Federal Council President Günter Kovacs (SPÖ), Second National Council President Doris Bures (SPÖ) and Third National Council President Norbert Hofer (FPÖ).
Open house at the weekend
The speech will be held by the former President of the German Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble. Finally, there will be a moderated discussion with the club representatives of the parliamentary groups, August Wöginger (ÖVP), Pamela Rendi-Wagner (SPÖ), Herbert Kickl (FPÖ), Sigrid Maurer (Greens) and Beate Meinl-Reisinger (NEOS). The musical accompaniment will be provided by the Vienna Philharmonic, the Vienna Boys’ Choir and the Vienna Choir Girls.
The opening does not end with the end of the ceremony. Citizens can visit the renovated High House on Saturday and Sunday. During a tour, visitors can get an idea of the result of five years of construction. The tour leads to the National Council Hall with its new glass dome, the new Federal Council meeting room and the Federal Assembly Hall, where the inauguration of the Federal President will take place at the end of January.
Incidentally, for most MPs and members of the Bundesrat, the opening of Parliament will not mean a return to their old jobs. Because “only” 75 of the current 183 MPs were already working in the historic building before the renovation. The remaining 108 people received their mandates during the time in the temporary quarters in the Hofburg. Of the 61 Federal Councilors, just under a fifth know the historical parliament as a place of work.
Many square meters and glue against “attacks”
The parliament was built according to plans by Theophil Hansen between 1874 and 1883. After being severely damaged in World War II, it was rebuilt by the architects Fellerer & Wörle by 1956. At that time, the new meeting room of the National Council was built. The current renovation was planned by the Jabornegg & Palffy office. The costs were set by law in 2014 at EUR 352.2 million and EUR 51.4 million for the alternative quarters, each including a 20 percent reserve. This was also activated in 2020. The final statement should be available by the end of 2023.
A total of 55,000 square meters of net floor space was renovated in the listed building, 40,000 square meters of floors were demolished and re-laid together with the technical installations, 740 windows and 600 doors were renovated and 500 chandeliers were refurbished. The floor space has been increased by 10,000 square meters with new rooms and a 1,500 square meter visitor center on the ground floor. Also new are 800 square meters of gastronomy space and four terraces with a total area of 400 square meters.
Roof conversion of the Parliament in time lapse
After more than five years of construction, the renovated Parliament opens its doors again. The highlight of the conversion is the new glass dome over the plenary hall. The dome has a diameter of 28 meters and thus spans an area of approx. 550 m². It is made of electrochromic glass that can be darkened if necessary to prevent the sun from dazzling. The deputies can look directly outside through the dome above the plenum.
The highlight of the conversion is the glass dome above the plenum. However, the transparent roof had opponents during the conversion period. Specifically, crows grabbed stones from the loose gravel rim on Parliament’s roof and dropped them onto the dome. In order to solve this problem, according to a report in the “Kleine Zeitung”, the ballast strip was glued in place with a synthetic resin solution. As a result, the birds have to at least get their “ammunition” from somewhere else if they set their sights on the dome again.
A Bösendorfer and many new names
The initial acoustic problem was also solved in the end. A dress rehearsal took place in November, which, according to Parliament, was a success. Safety technology and infrastructure have been improved. It is also said that a high level of accessibility has been taken care of. 1.8 million euros was also provided for art in parliament – and not just with a rented, gold-decorated Bösendorfer grand piano.
The Parliament not only stands out with a lot of art, but also with many new names. In addition to their numbering, the bars in which committee meetings take place are also named after well-known personalities: “Erwin Schrödinger” (bar 1), “Elise Richter” (bar 2), “Theophil Hansen” (bar 3), “Bertha von Suttner (Bar 4), “Ludwig Wittgenstein” (Bar 5), “Lise Meitner” (Bar 6), “Egon Schiele” (Bar 7) and “Eugenie Schwarzwald” (Bar 8).
TV notice
ORF III shows the documentary “Pillar of Democracy – History of Parliament” on Saturday at 8:15 p.m.
The winter gardens “Romy Schneider” and “Maria Lassnig” can be found on the third floor. The six meeting rooms are named after “Viktor Frankl”, “Ella Lingens-Reiner”, “Sigmund Freud”, “Gabriele Possaner”, “Ingeborg Bachmann” and “Fellerer/Wörle”. The artists Oskar Kokoschka and Margaretha Lupac gave their names to those bars where investigative committees take place. One course is now called “Hedy Lamarr” and one “Friedrich August von Hayek”.
New website goes online
With the opening of the House of Representatives, the revised Parliament website (Parlament.gv.at) also goes online. At the end of the 1990s, people with an affinity for the internet could find out about local parliamentarism at Parlinkom.gv.at. Over the years, not only has the address changed to Parliament.gv.at, but countless information, further links and subpages have also been added. With the current revision, the aim was obviously to “clean up” the site and bring it up to date with the 21st century.
The basic concept remained the same: In addition to the latest news from Parliament, the focus is on the questions: How does the House work (“understanding”)? What can I do in Parliament (“Experience”)? How can I participate in the law-making (“participate”)? In addition, documents and data can still be researched. If you search for the deputies and members of the Federal Council, you will also find videos in which the people talk about themselves. In the course of the relaunch, accessibility was also expanded.
