THE RING. The Pioneer Years of a Grand Boulevard

Marking the anniversary of Vienna’s ring road—Ringstraße—in 2015, the Wien Museum decided to shed light on its early years: Vienna on the road to becoming a modern metropolis, from the beginning of urban expansion to the celebratory opening of the grand boulevard on May 1, 1865. Never before seen blueprints, designs, models, and photographs render the parallels of old and new Vienna, construction sites and wasteland, demolition and new build. Behind this a society immersed in upheaval is visible: Ringstraße, initially a large-scale federal project, ended up becoming a stage for the bourgeoisie, which was gaining ground on the aristocracy in terms of political, economic, and cultural significance and thus decisively shaped the Danube Monarchy during its final decades.