Palais Bourgoing-Rothschild: A Vienna Urban Palace
Site at a Glance
- Popularity
- High
- Country
- Austria
- Primary era
- Modern
- Eras represented
- Modern
- Civilizations
- Austria-Hungary, Habsburg
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Elite Residence
On this page4 sections
History
Construction and family ownership
Palais Bourgoing-Rothschild is a former urban palace at Metternichgasse 8 in Vienna’s Landstraße district, Austria. Built from 1891 to 1893 for Baron Othon de Bourgoing, it was designed by Amand Louis Bauqué and Albert Pio. In 1890, de Bourgoing had separately commissioned Palais Bourgoing at Metternichgasse 12, also designed by Bauqué and Pio.
The palace was one of five Vienna palaces owned by members of the Austrian branch of the Rothschild banking family. The Springer family owned it before the Rothschild family, giving rise to the names Palais Springer, Palais Rothschild, and Palais Springer-Rothschild. In 1911, Baron Sigismund von Springer and his wife, Valentine Noémi von Rothschild, acquired the building. Valentine was the sixth child of banker Baron Albert Salomon Anselm von Rothschild, and the palace served as the couple’s family residence.
Nazi-era seizure and wartime use
The residence’s use by the couple ended after Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938. The palace was then subjected to Aryanization, the Nazi regime’s forced seizure or transfer of property belonging to Jews and other targeted people. From December 1940, the building was rented to the Army base administration and two private parties.
In August 1941, architect Ottokar Weigel, a valuation master at the Dorotheum, an Austrian auction house, assessed the interior furnishings at 347,000 Reichsmarks. The Reichsmark was Germany’s currency from 1924 to 1948.
Postwar ownership and institutional use
After the Second World War, the palace was returned to the family. In 1950, the family sold it along with Sitzenberg Castle. The building subsequently became home to the Academy of Music and Art and later housed a branch of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna until June 2024. Palais Bourgoing-Rothschild is listed as a historic monument in Austria.
