The lawyers’ steps

Where the Emperor watches over the students

Two main staircases lead from the mezzanine to a reversing platform and via 2 sets of steps on each side to the first floor. Architect Heinrich von Ferstel envisioned the representational steps here on the south side as the access point for the legal and political faculty which could be found here on the first floor. The name “lawyers’ steps” quickly caught on. And that is how they are still known today, even if they do now lead to the Dean’s Office for Information Technology, the Institute for German Studies and the Small Ceremonial Chamber.

In 1945 the lawyers’ steps were destroyed by bomb attacks. Eight years later, in 1953, they were replaced, but in simplified form, as a reminder of the destruction. On the walls for example is now merely the suggestion of the original ornate stuccowork. And the ceiling is kept pure white, which was not formerly the case.

On the loggia of the lawyers’ steps is a huge statue of Emperor Franz Joseph I. It was created by the German sculptor Kaspar von Zumbusch and honours the Emperor as building contractor of the main building of Vienna University.

The fact that the statue found its home here on the lawyers’ steps has a profound meaning. Many of the law students here were aspiring state officials. The statue meant that they would see their future employer each day of their studies.

The statue of Franz Joseph, which lost its head in WW2, was also restored in a modernised form.