| Where history was made. The Congress of Vienna took place here 1814/15 after Napoleon's defeat. Since 1945, seat of the Federal Government and the Foreign Ministry.
It was constructed in 1717/19 by the architect Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and expanded in 1766 by Nicolò Pacassi under the guidance of Chancellor Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz. Originally called the Geheime Hofkanzlei (Secret Court Chancellery), it was expanded in 1881 and again in 1902, when the Haus-, Hof-, und Staatsarchiv (today the Austrian State Archive) were added on the site of the former Minoritenkloster monastery, next to the Minoritenkirche. The main facade has largely remained the same since its construction by von Hildebrandt. The interior is richly decorated with stucco. |