Palais Niederösterreich

Palais Niederösterreich

Palais Niederösterreich’s history has significance on a political and on a social level and its presence can be felt in the premises to this day. The beginnings date back to the late Middle Ages. As the political representative of lords, knights, prelates, and cities, the estates general acquired the villa in order to be in the immediate vicinity of the sovereign and to hold meetings in Vienna. Valuable features of this late Gothic villa, such as its chapel and the Gotische Zimmer – Gothic Room, are still intact.The Renaissance-style Landtagssaal – Parliament Hall – was built and vaulted in the middle of the 16th century. The Provincial Parliament of Lower Austria took over the villa from the estates general after the people’s representation came to an end in 1848, the year of the revolution. Citing the right of self-determination of the people, German-speaking parliamentary members of the Upper House formed the ‘Provisional National Assembly of the Independent Austro-German State’ in the villa. The representatives of the people of Vienna and Lower Austria used the villa jointly until 1921. The villa has belonged to the Lower Austrian provincial government since Vienna gained independence on 1st January 1922. The renovation was carried out in accordance with the regulations for listed buildings and Palais Niederösterreich has since been used in its present form as a center for events. Remnants of the foundations of a medieval building – presumably the ‘House of Liechtenstein’ – were found in the courtyard during the conversion and restoration work between 2002 and 2004. Alongside a wide variety of glass and ceramic vessels, simple and fine tableware were also found.