As a follow up from yesterday - as I discovered the Gasometer City in Vienna and I wondered what the Austrians could make from such an old industrial huge buildings! -, today I visited another universe in an amazing location (see this material too about a similar location in Vienna).
*The Haus des Meeres (HdM, English: House of the Sea) is a public aquarium in Vienna, Austria. It is located in Esterhazy Park in downtown Mariahilf district, one block south of the busy Mariahilfer Straße.
The Haus des Meeres houses over ten thousand aquatic beings on an area
of around 4,000 square meters (43,000 sq ft) inside a tall concrete flak tower built during World War II. In 2012 the Haus des Meeres attracted a record high of 436,500 visitors.
 |
| big ants working, carrying, running unstoppable and a sleepy snake |
The Haus des Meeres is managed by Aqua Terra Zoo, a private non-profit organization which, according to its web site, receives only marginal financial support from municipal authorities. However, the maintenance costs for the former flak tower are paid by the taxpayer.
Background
The first public seawater aquarium in Vienna was opened in 1860 by Gustav Jäger.
Jäger's aquarium, like its contemporaries, relied on regular delivery
of natural seawater. It became a reality in 1854 with the construction
of the Semmering railway linking Vienna with the Mediterranean coast.
After two years of experimenting with small seawater tanks Jäger built a
large aquarium for public display.
He described the feelings of
contemporary people who faced the unknown submarine world: "The
first-time visitor ... cannot contain his inner excitement. His
curiosity is so great that he can hardly enjoy the moment: I am sorry,
but he looks so helpless, as if he has suddenly found himself among
people whose language he neither speaks nor understands."
Visitors sought new experience, but resisted believing what they saw
behind the glass. The aquarium was a financial loss, and Jäger had to
close it after four years of operation.
The concrete tower housing the present-day aquarium was erected as a fire control flak tower in ten months between October 1943 and July 1944. The tower is 47 meters (154 ft) tall, with a footprint of 31 by 15
meters (102 by 49 ft), and its gross volume, including extensive
foundations, reaches 55,000 cubic meters (1,900,000 cu ft).
In 1944 it was crowned with a Würzburg radar
dome. In case of imminent air raid threat, the radar could be lowered
into a concrete shaft with 3.5-meter (11 ft) thick concrete walls.
The subordinate gun battery tower is located inside a city block north
of Marihilfer Straße. The two towers operated as a single combat unit,
in cooperation with two other pairs of flak towers built in Augarten (north) and in Arenberg Park (south-east). After the war the tower in Esterhazy Park was temporarily used as a hotel with 38 rooms in a bunker, and then converted to a fire station.
History
In the 1960s the underground part of the bunker was used as a youth hostel, named Stadtherberge Esterhazypark.
Volunteers moved into the flak tower in November 1957. The ground floor
and the bunkers were then occupied by the firefighters, which left only
one and half habitable floors for the exhibition. The rest of the tower
was filled with debris and open to the elements. Step by step, the
aquarium expanded over the empty floors. Eventually, when the aquarium
expanded to six floors, the firefighters left the buildings, and the
aquarium staff was at last allowed to clear the basement of war relics.
In 1991 the building was crowned with a lightweight wraparound box with the slogan Smashed to Pieces .. In the Still of the Night (in English and German), a memorial against war and fascism designed by Lawrence Weiner.
Eventually it became an obstacle to the expansion plans. The city
authorities divided whether Weiner's work was a disposable billboard or a
piece of artistic heritage, but by 2005 the latter viewpoint prevailed and the city picked up its maintenance costs.
The old elevator, installed in 1944, operated without failure until
1997. It was replaced during an extensive renovation that enabled
opening of three new floors (7, 8 and 9).
The glass wings which house
the reptiles and tropical birds, were added in 2000 and 2007. As of
2010, the tower houses ten habitable above-ground floors plus an open
sightseeing roof deck.
The tenth floor, which recreates a flak turm control vault, houses
World War Two exhibits and I was so lucky to be allowed inside today at 4 p.m..
The expansion had a side effect: the City of Vienna struck the
"defaced" tower off the list of protected landmarks but enforced
preservation of Weiner's billboard.
In 2007 the Haus des Meeres installed its largest, 300,000 liter tank for sharks.
On May 7 the aquarium moved six adult blacktip reef sharks, properly sedated, to the new tank. All sharks quietly died in a few hours after awakening. Autopsy revealed fatal internal bleeding which was blamed on stress (after the accident other zoos confirmed that blacktip sharks are, indeed, prone to stress injury). The four replacement sharks of the same species that were delivered next month survived without lasting effects.
The gravel lining the bottom of the tank was recycled from World War
Two concrete which was torn down during the expansion. It is visible on
the 55 euro cent commemorative stamp 50 Jahre "Haus des Meeres" issued by the Austrian Post in 2007.
Expansion plans
Further expansion and ownership of the tower is a controversial matter.
The property is owned by the City of Vienna, which pays for the
maintenance costs, and is determined to get rid of the financial burden.
In 2008 the City proposed selling the tower to an outside investor and
approved plans to build a private hotel on top of the flak tower. The
plans were vocally opposed by the residents of Mariahilf. The Haus des
Meeres itself wanted to retain future upward expansion rights. They
proposed building three new exhibition space floors inside an all-glass
capsule shaped like a manta ray.
As of 2010, both these projects were canceled. The Haus des Meeres received a vote of confidence from local residents
but had to choose a less radical solution. The six million Euro
expansion project, scheduled for 2011, will add a million-liter fish
tank and an open-air restaurant.
The city officials are willing to
consider the sale of the building to the Haus des Meeres, on condition
that the new owner preserves Weiner's artwork and picks up the
maintenance bill from the taxpayers.
Source: Wikipedia, what else?!
Pictures by myself.
And yes, I enjoyed the terrace on the top indeed (having my meal for today there for 10+2 euros!)
It was a hot day again and I cycled 35 km (62 yesterday).
It was a hot day again and I cycled 35 km (62 yesterday).
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen