Hall of Pillars

The central room at Parliament

When architect Theophil Hansen is designing the long Hall of Pillars for the Austrian Parliament Building, his priority is to create a place where people can come together and exchange ideas. This is still the case; today the Hall of Pillars serves principally as a function room. It is also the setting preferred by politicians when giving interviews.

Each of the 24 Corinthian marble pillars supporting the ceiling and glass roof is fashioned from a single block of marble and weighs around 16 tons. At 40 m x 24 m the Hall of Pillars in the Austrian Parliament Building is half the size of a football pitch.

In WW2 the Hall of Pillars is hit by a bomb. The pillars as well as the painting in the upper part of the hall suffer damage. Much care is given to restore these as much as possible to their original state. But you can tell by the colour and structure of the marble that the last 2 pillars on the right-hand side are no longer the originals.