Heldenplatz, Vienna

Heldenplatz is a public space in front of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. Located in the Innere Stadt borough, the President of Austria resides in the adjoining Hofburg wing, while the Federal Chancellery is on adjacent Ballhausplatz.Many important actions and events took place here, most notably Adolf Hitler's ceremonial announcement of the Austrian Anschluss to Nazi Germany on 15 March 1938.HistoryAfter the Napoleonic War of the Fifth Coalition, the Austrian defeat in the 1809 Battle of Wagram and the Treaty of Schönbrunn, the remaining bastions of Hofburg Palace were slighted and replaced by a curtain wall with the—still preserved—Outer Castle Gate (Äußeres Burgtor). Inside the Hofburg walls, several squares and gardens were laid out, including the Volksgarten public park.KaiserforumThe present-day Heldenplatz on the former outer plaza of the Hofburg was built in the course of the lavish Ringstraße boulevard project under the reign of Emperor Francis Joseph. The planned Kaiserforum (imperial forum), however, was never completed. From 1864 onwards, renowned architects like Carl von Hasenauer, Theophil Hansen and Heinrich Ferstel competed presenting their drafts, superseded by Gottfried Semper in 1869.