Arsenal (Vienna) 3.39

The Arsenal is a former military complex of buildings in the south-east of Vienna in the third district.Several brick buildings in a rectangle layout make up the complex which is located on a bank south of the Landstraßer Gürtel. It is the most distinguished building group of Romantic historicism in Vienna and has been constructed in Italian-medieval and Byzantine-Islamic style. Essentially the complex is still preserved in its original form, merely a few workshop buildings within the courtyard were replaced.HistoryThe complex was built in the aftermath of the March Revolution 1848, between 1848–1856, and was the first of three buildings which replaced the old city fortifications. The area was split into sectors where construction was supervised by the architects Carl Roesner, Antonius Pius de Riegel, August Sicard von Sicardsburg, Eduard van der Nüll, Theophil von Hansen and Ludwig Förster. The master builder was Leopold Mayr. The Heeresgeschichtliches Museum took until 1891 to finish. In the aftermath there were multiple expansions. During the First World War the complex served as a barracks and armoury.