Volksgarten

Volksgarten, Vienna, 1^st district, gardens laid out 1819-1823 on the grounds of the former rampart complex (destroyed by the French in 1809) near Ballhausplatz square, gardens extended in 1862 toward Ringstraße boulevard after the city moat had been filled up. In 1822/23, P. von Nobile established a coffeehouse in the Volksgarten (the "Cortisches Kaffeehaus") which was also the scene of concerts by J. Strauß the Elder, J. Lanner and others, and later also by E. Strauß. Sights on the grounds of the gardens include the Theseus Temple (1820-1823), a basin with fountain sculptures by V. Tilgner (1880), the Grillparzer monument by C. Hasenauer, C. Kundmann and R. Weyr (1889), and a marble monument of the enthroned Empress Elisabeth (by H. Bitterlich), situated in a garden by F. Ohmann (1907).

Literature: F. Czeike, Wien Innere Stadt, 1992; idem, Historisches Lexikon Wien, 1992ff.