Dedication panel, 1784

The first and oldest court was only accessible via the main gate at 4 Alser Straße, which is the Sonnenfels Gate today. Following the transformation of the poorhouse and home for disabled veterans into the Allgemeines Krankenhaus or General Hospital the new function of the old building was written above the main entrance:

SALVTI ET SOLATIO AEGRORVM JOSPHVS II: AVG: ANNO MDCCLXXIV (For the healing and comfort of the sick, Emperor Joseph II, 1784)

The same dedication was written above the entrance to the annex (courts 8 and 9) in Garnisongasse in 1834, on the scroll held by the statue of Joseph II in court 2 in 1884, above the entrance to the ‘new clinics’ extension buildings in Lazarettgasse in 1904 and above the entrance to the current General Hospital on Währinger Gürtel in 1994. It has stood for Joseph II’s social policy and Vienna General Hospital ever since, although many other hospitals were built in the crown lands during the Josephinian era.

In the gateway can be found memorial panels from 1934 and 1999, detailing the history of the site.