Vienna Baroque Expansion

Timeline

1. 1671–1683Vienna suburbs (outside today's 1st District) · ViennaIn 1671 Leopold I ordered the expulsion of Vienna's Jewish community, freeing land in Leopoldstadt for urban expansion. At the same time, Italian architects such as Filalino (Giovanni Pietro Tencala) were hired to plan suburban residences for the imperial family and nobility. Expansion ideas for the predecessor of Schönbrunn, an old hunting lodge, already existed before it was destroyed by Ottoman forces in 1683. During this period Vienna lived under the shadow of the Ottoman threat and urban construction was relatively conservative, but the Italian Baroque architectural language had begun to permeate noble palace building.
2. 1683–1700Vienna city and immediate suburbs · ViennaAfter the Ottoman siege was lifted in September 1683, Vienna entered a period of large-scale reconstruction and expansion. Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach was commissioned by the Crown in the 1690s to plan a new scheme for Schönbrunn, adapting the Versailles model to local conditions. Nobles vied to build Baroque palaces along the suburban boulevards (the precursor area of today's Ringstrasse), creating a 'palace avenue' landscape. The Hofburg was expanded during the same period with new palace wings.
3. 1700–1740Schönbrunn and the Vienna urban area · ViennaThe main construction of Schönbrunn began in the 1700s and was largely completed in the 1730s, becoming the spatial symbol of Habsburg imperial authority. The Karlskirche (1716–1737) was completed by Fischer's son, the younger Erlach, combining classical colonnades, Trajan's Column in Rome, and a Baroque dome, and stands as the crowning work of the Vienna Baroque style. Noble palace complexes such as the Upper Belvedere (1721–1723) further perfected the southern axis of Vienna, together forming an 'imperial Baroque' cityscape distinct from Versailles in France.