Palais Ferstel
Palais Ferstel is one of Vienna’s clearest links between high finance and high design. Built in 1860 for the Austrian National Bank and stock exchange, it was constructed by Baron Heinrich von Ferstel and echoes early Florentine Renaissance architecture through its stylistic references. That banking function continued to expand: from 1878, the building served as the head office of the Austro-Hungarian Bank, placing it at the center of a dual monarchy’s monetary power. The Second World War tested that role directly. Air raids severely damaged the building, with particular harm to the facade. Reconstruction came later, in 1971, when Walter Frodl, then President of the Federal Monuments Office, was responsible for rebuilding efforts. After that, the structure shifted again—from 1975 to 1982 into private ownership and underwent renovation—before being brought under the ownership of a Karl Wlaschek foundation in 2015.
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