Ballhausplatz

The Ballhausplatz is a historical place in the 1st district of Vienna Inner City. It lies between the people garden, the Federal Chancellery, the Hofburg Palace and Heroes' Square. The word Ballhausplatz is a synecdoche for the political power in Austria, comparable with the significance of Downing Street in England.

The name derives from various ballrooms that 1741-1903 were here. Already in 1521 had introduced the ballgame in Vienna later Emperor Ferdinand I, one early form of badminton, which soon enjoyed great popularity among aristocrats.

Previously, there were in this place, among other things, the bakery minority monastery, the home of the provincial as well as an imperial Meiereihof.

Today, the Ballhausplatz is the political center of power in Austria, as here, institutions such as the Federal President's Office, the Interior Ministry and the Federal Chancellery are. The building of the Federal Chancellery was built in 1717-1719 by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt as "secret chancellery " and served until 1918 as kuk Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Due to the political importance of Ballhausplatz is now a preferred meeting place and focal point for political movements such as demonstrations, rallies and protests.