The period of Viennese Modernism is widely regarded as Europe’s cultural heyday. This was when Vienna, with a population of two million, was the capital of the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy and a melting pot of European cultures. Around 1850, a fundamental push for urban renewal was initiated with the re-planning of the city’s Ringstrasse. As a result, new palaces and novel building types emerged throughout Vienna, reflecting both social change and technological progress.

306 contemporary texts construct a picture of Vienna in the period between 1850 and 1945. The authors’ polemics, critiques, and descriptions provide vivid testimony to this urban transformation whose impact is felt to this day. Summarized in chapters, they reflect the decisive tendencies of the time. An indispensable compendium.