The wooden roof structures of the Vienna Imperial Palace represent an important architectural and constructional heritage. In the context of the structural development of the imperial residence, extensive roof structures were erected that have been preserved to this day and impressively demonstrate the craftsmanship of carpentry from the late Medieval times, the early modern period, the Baroque and the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Wooden supporting structures from the first quarter of the 15th century to the beginning of the 20th century have been preserved in 14 large roof structure complexes, which are divided into around 40 individual roof structure units. They show both the typical constructions of their respective eras as well as the development and use of innovative structural concepts of the period. Particularly noteworthy in this group are the roof structures over the large halls of the Vienna Imperial Palace as constructions with very large dimensions. The first to be mentioned here is the Winter Riding School with a roof span of over 22 meters. It was built according to plans by Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach in 1729-35. But also above the somewhat older Prunksaal of the Imperial Library (built 1723-26) and the so-called Ceremonial Hall (built 1804-1809 under the direction of Louis de Montoyer), outstanding constructive solutions for large-span wooden roof structures have been preserved.
Despite the outstanding historical and art-historical significance of the building ensemble, research into the wooden roof structures of the Vienna Imperial Palace is a desideratum. Based on the extensive preparatory work already carried out by the project leader in 2011-2018 in a team with colleagues at the Department of History of Architecture and Building Archaeology of TU Wien, the important inventory of roof structures is to be analyzed and prepared for publication, incorporating building archaeology methods, supplementary dendrochronological analyses, illustration using digital models and taking into account historical tractates on carpentry.
11/2024-01/2026
