Palais Equitable - Vienna, Austria
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 48° 12.483 E 016° 22.293
33U E 601898 N 5340333
Construction of the Palais Equitable building was completed in 1891.
Waymark Code: WMJPXC
Location: Wien, Austria
Date Posted: 12/15/2013
Views: 10
This building is located on Vienna's central Stephanplatz and features a doorway with several sculptures: two large women on either side...one holding fruit...probably representing agriculture and the other a book and hammer..probably representing science and industry. Between the women, just above the doorway is a small scupture of two men...apparently hikers or miners meeting at a tree. Above that is an eagle with flags and above that a larger sculpture of another classically-dressed woman protecting a young family. Since this building was for the Equitable Life Insurance Company...perhaps that woman at the top represents the insurance industry?
Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us about the building:
"The Palais Equitable is a mansion in Stock-im-Eisen-Platz (now part of Stephansplatz) in the Innere Stadt of Vienna, Austria that was built in the 19th century for The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and that incorporates the Stock im Eisen on one corner.
The building is on the site of five small medieval buildings that were demolished in 1856–86, partly in order to expand Kärntner Straße. It was designed by Andreas Streit and constructed in 1887–91. It is one of the few palaces or mansions in Vienna never to have been an aristocratic residence.
The Palais Equitable has a richly detailed façade featuring American eagles. The Stock im Eisen, enclosed in glass, is in a niche on the Kärntner Straße corner of the building, and bronze reliefs by Rudolf Weyr on the main doors depict its history. The remainder of the ornamentation is by Viktor Oskar Tilgner and Johann Schindler.
The interior is also extremely sumptuous: marble from Hallein and granite from Saxony were used for the dramatic stairway and the vestibule, and the glass-covered interior courtyard is completely clad in tile and maiolica. (The stairway was apparently intended to be adaptable for access to a future subway.) A painting on the ceiling of the lobby and the stucco ornamentation on the second floor are by Julius Victor Berger.
Wilhelm Beck & Söhne, providers of uniforms to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, had its shop in the building, and the United States consulate was located there.
The Palais Equitable was damaged in World War II but was restored in 1949. The entrance area was renovated by Rüdiger Lainer in 1997. Today the building houses offices of various companies and organizations including the Austrian division of Sal. Oppenheim, and a retail outlet for Aurgarten Porcelain."