{"id":7295,"date":"2025-10-22T12:07:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T17:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/?p=7295"},"modified":"2025-10-22T12:07:53","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T17:07:53","slug":"viennas-state-hall-one-of-worlds-most-beautiful-libraries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/viennas-state-hall-one-of-worlds-most-beautiful-libraries\/","title":{"rendered":"One of the World’s Most Beautiful Libraries"},"content":{"rendered":"

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VIENNA, AUSTRIA<\/strong> \u2014 I stood in State Hall, originally part of the imperial residence complex of the Hofburg Palace in the heart of Vienna, looking around and upward in awe. Walnut bookshelves stretched from floor to ceiling; all crammed tightly with 200,000 books published between 1501-1850. Above the shelves, some 30 meters high, is a domed cupola with an ornate fresco depicting the deification of Emperor Charles VI, painted by court artist Daniel Gran. It took him about five years \u2014 1726-1730. I don\u2019t know about Charles\u2019s \u201cdeification,\u201d but the fellow is responsible for building one of the most beautiful libraries in the world. That should have earned him some paradisiacal brownie points.<\/p>\n

Longtime readers know of my love for libraries. Every time we travel to New England, a quick trip to the Boston Public Library \u2014 America\u2019s first free municipal library \u2014 is on the itinerary. One of my fondest memories was spending several days about 20 years ago in the Library of Congress, ensconced in the main reading room, doing research for a book. I received my first library card when I was 6, from the Allenstown (N.H.) Public Library. It is a blessing that, 64 years later, I still work part-time as an archivist in an academic library. So yes, I was jazzed to be here.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A statue of Charles VI stands in the center of State Hall, which is part of the Austrian National Library. Four large globes \u2014 each one meter in diameter and created by Venetian cartographer Vincenzo Masria Coronelli \u2014 are placed around his statue. Two are terrestrial, depicting the known world of the late 17th<\/sup> century, and two are celestial, showing the constellations and night sky. (A photo of one of the globes accompanies this piece.) They are stunning in detail.<\/p>\n

Sixteen larger-than-life statues are also in the State Hall. When I took the photo of the statue also accompanying this piece, I mistakenly assumed it was William Shakespeare. Why there would be a statue of the famed English writer in the Austrian National Library \u2014 where I presume nearly all the books are written in German \u2014 somehow escaped me at the time. Further research on the State Hall\u2019s website indicates the statue represents Frederick III of Habsburg, who was Holy Roman Emperor from 1452 to 1493. They do favor each other.<\/p>\n

Frederick was known for using a cryptic monogram that sounds to American ears as if he was teaching little kids the vowels of the English language: AEIOU<\/strong>. For Frederick, who ordered the monogram slapped on buildings across the empire, it stood for \u201cAustriae est imperare orbi universe,\u201d or <\/em>\u201cIt is Austria\u2019s destiny to rule the world.\u201d That did not work out so well.<\/p>\n

The library stacks of State Hall are understandably roped off, keeping the volumes \u2014 thousands bound in Morocco leather \u2014 out of the grasp of the 330,000 visitors who arrive annually. While the books can\u2019t be checked out, of course, the entire collection of more than 200,000 volumes has been digitized. The Austrian National Library contains 3.5 million digital objects from all its collections. That includes 400,000 photographs, a few dozen of which I viewed when back home. (The website<\/a> is published in both German and English.)<\/p>\n

State Hall also hosts exhibits shown on video screens in front of the stacks \u2014 a striking contrast to the ancient books behind them. The exhibit when I was there was titled \u201cA Century in Pictures. Austria 1925-2025<\/em>.\u201d This year marks the 80th<\/sup> anniversary of Austria\u2019s liberation from the Nazis at the end of World War II. The exhibit also noted the 70th<\/sup> anniversary of the Austrian State Treaty in 1955, which reestablished Austria as a sovereign nation after a decade of Allied occupation, and the 30th<\/sup> anniversary of the country joining the European Union. Viewing the photography exhibit was an added treat\"\"<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I reluctantly left State Hall and wandered around, a few hours to kill before my son-in-law Matt and I caught a train back to Unterneukirchen, across the border in Bavaria, once he finished working. A delectable breakfast at Caf\u00e9 Mozart<\/em> eased my stomach rumbling. A few hours later, I grabbed a beer at Bar Kotor<\/em>, the only person there besides the bartender. She stepped outside to smoke while \u201cSweet Dreams (Are Made of This)\u201d<\/em> by Eurythmics played inside.<\/p>\n

I was alone in a Vienna bar on a fine autumn afternoon. I decided to have another beer before taking an Uber to the train station.<\/p>\n

Go to my Facebook page to view more photographs of State Hall.<\/em><\/p>\n

Print this entry<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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