{"id":47310,"date":"2022-07-09T05:43:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-09T04:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=47310"},"modified":"2025-06-20T13:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T12:35:09","slug":"burgtor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/winter-palace\/burgtor\/","title":{"rendered":"The Burgtor"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/burgtorsmall.jpg\" alt=\"Burgtor from Heldenplatz\" class=\"wp-image-47307\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/burgtorsmall.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/burgtorsmall-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>When Emperors build gates, they require more than a bit of wrought iron and a large key. The monumental Burgtor with its triumphal arches serves as a gateway to Vienna&#8217;s Hofburg complex but also as a military monument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Erected in 1821 in honour of military success against Napoleon<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Redesigned (internally) across the 1900s<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Honours the WWI fallen, resistance fighters &amp; others<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Also known as:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The \u00c4u\u00dferes Burgtor (outer Burgtor)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Heldendenkmal (heroes monument)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Book a 2-hr <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiqets.com\/en\/vienna-walking-tours-l205287\/?partner=visitingvienna&amp;tq_campaign=LG_WalkingTours\" rel=\"sponsored\">walking tour<\/a>* in Vienna<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/winter-palace\/heldenplatz\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"2748\">Heldenplatz<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/wwii-vienna\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"69411\">WWII locations<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Gate, monument, place of reflection<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/burgtor1.jpg\" alt=\"Front of the Burgtor\" class=\"wp-image-47305\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/burgtor1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/burgtor1-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The view from outside)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Burgtor translates directly as castle gate, which leads to entirely the wrong expectations given the lack of moats, bastions or, indeed, any castle at all in the vicinity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The name does make sense, though, when you consider the nearby area was once an entranceway in the walled fortifications that surrounded Vienna&#8217;s old town in earlier centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blame Napoleon for setting in motion the process that led to the appearance of a free-standing monument: following their 1809 occupation of Vienna, French troops blew up parts of the city fortifications (largely because they could, I think, rather than through any military necessity).<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"336\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/burgtoralt.jpg\" alt=\"View of the Burgtor and court stables by Jakob Alt courtesy of the Wien Museum\" class=\"wp-image-47309\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/burgtoralt.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/burgtoralt-300x202.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(View of the Burgtor (original concept by Cagnola) with the court stables behind (today&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sightseeing\/vienna-museums\/mq\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"4030\">MuseumsQuartier<\/a>); painted by Jakob Alt in 1819; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 31250; excerpt reproduced under the terms of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY 4.0 license<\/a>;&nbsp;photo: Wien Museum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the next few years, the Austrians set about various rebuilding efforts. This included constructing what we know as the Burgtor. The gateway led into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/winter-palace\/heldenplatz\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"2748\">Heldenplatz square<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sightseeing\/hofburg\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"2708\">the Hofburg<\/a> and sat within a broadly representative curtain wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The original design by Luigi Cagnola was never completed. Instead, most of what we see can be ascribed to Pietro Nobile (1774-1854). This Swiss-born architect also designed, for example, the nearby <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/winter-palace\/theseus-temple\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"16982\">Theseus Temple<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Burgtor&#8217;s monumental nature and triumphal arches stem from its second role commemorating the efforts of the Austrian military in dealing with the by-now defeated French.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/burgtor2024.jpg\" alt=\"The Burgtor at sunset\" class=\"wp-image-72798\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/burgtor2024.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/burgtor2024-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Sunset view from outside the square)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This symbolism was brought home by using soldiers as construction workers and setting the official unveiling for October 16th, 1824.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That date was the anniversary of the 1813 Battle of Leipzig, where troops led by Vienna-born Karl Philipp Prince of Schwarzenberg dealt a decisive blow to Napoleon. The prince has his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/schwarzenberg-monument\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"40807\">own equestrian statue<\/a> over on the aptly-named Schwarzenbergplatz square.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once almost all the city fortifications (new and old) came down in that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/history-of-the-ringstrassen\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"68027\">great period of urban expansion<\/a> in the late 1800s, the Burgtor remained as a free-standing monument.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/burgtor2.jpg\" alt=\"View of the Burgtor from Heldenplatz\" class=\"wp-image-47306\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/burgtor2.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/burgtor2-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(View from Heldenplatz)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Three large inscriptions dominate the long sides (my rough translations):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Franciscus I. Imperator. Austriae. MDCCCXXIV<\/em>&#8230; Franz I, Emperor of Austria, 1824<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Iustitia. Regnorum. Fundamentum<\/em>&#8230;Justice is the foundation of rule (the motto of Franz I)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Laurum. Militibus. Lauro. Dignis. MDCCCCXVI<\/em>&#8230;Laurels to soldiers worthy of laurels 1916 (after a WWI fundraising initiative)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/policemonument.jpg\" alt=\"Police monument\" class=\"wp-image-47308\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/policemonument.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/policemonument-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(This monument adjacent to the Burgtor honours police officers who lost their life in service.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the outside has survived largely intact, the insides of the monument underwent rebuilding and repurposing through the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, the 1930s saw the Burgtor become a monument to the fallen of WWI (with a veneer of fascism overlying everything given the timeline), with a crypt and open-air halls of honour accessible through gates at the sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 1960s saw the addition of a commemorative room to Austrian resistance fighters, and the whole now serves as more of a general tribute to military sacrifice and effort in pursuit of democratic ideals.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/burgtor.jpg\" alt=\"View of Maria-Theresien-Platz through the Burgtor columns\" class=\"wp-image-47304\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/burgtor.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/burgtor-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Provided no cars are on the road and you&#8217;re careful, you can get a nice shot of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/footsteps\/maria-theresa-monument\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"6483\">Maria Theresa monument<\/a> framed in the arches of the Burgtor.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As such, you might consider the Burgtor a symbol of Austria escaping its past, difficult though that might be at times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to get to the Burgtor<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Just follow the travel tips for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/winter-palace\/heldenplatz\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"2748\">Heldenplatz square<\/a>. The gateway is in the southwest side that faces the Ring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Address: Heldenplatz 21\/4, 1010 Vienna<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/embed?mid=1asmHlbVpicbQLt1557vf6l4l0zQ\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Emperors build gates, they require more than a bit of wrought iron and a large key. The monumental Burgtor with its triumphal arches serves as a gateway to Vienna&#8217;s Hofburg complex but also as a military monument. Gate, monument, place of reflection (The view from outside) Burgtor translates directly as castle gate, which leads [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47307,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-47310","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-winter-palace","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47310"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84243,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47310\/revisions\/84243"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}