Rotunde

{{Multiple issues|

{{Expand German|topic=struct|Rotunde (Wien)|date=December 2009}}

{{One source|date=November 2008}}

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{{Infobox building

| architect=Baron Karl von Hasenauer

| circumference=Of dome only:
{{Cvt|319.6|m}} (inner)

| classification=Former building

| completion_date=1873

| coordinates={{Coord|48|12|44|N|16|24|34|E|display=inline,title|region:AT-9_type:landmark_source:dewiki}}

| diameter=Of dome only:
{{Cvt|107.83|m}} (outer)
{{Cvt|101.7|m}} (inner)

| image_caption=The Rotunde in 1873

| image=W Rotunde.jpg

| location_city=Leopoldstadt, Vienna

| location_country=Austria

| map_type=Austria Vienna#Austria

| name=Rotunde

| status=Destroyed by a fire in 1937

}}

The Rotunde ({{IPA|de|roˈtʊndə|lang}}) in Vienna's Leopoldstadt district was a building erected for the 1873 Vienna World's Fair ({{langx|de|Weltausstellung 1873 Wien}}). The building was a partially covered circular wrought iron construction, {{Cvt|84.1|m}} tall, with a diameter of {{Cvt|107.83|m}}.{{

cite journal

| access-date=2023-09-12

| authorlink=:de:Wilhelm Heinrich Uhland

| date=1873

| doi=10.1016/0016-0032(73)90149-x

| first=Wilhelm H. [Heinrich]

| issn=0016-0032

| issue=3

| journal=Journal of the Franklin Institute

| last=Uhland

| oclc=1044760573

| orig-date=1872-11

| page=185

| place=Leipsic [Leipzig]

| publication-place=Philadelphia

| publisher=Published by the Franklin Institute at their Hall

| title=Notes on the Vienna Universal exposition

| url={{Google Books URL | 1=SjI5AQAAMAAJ | p=PA185}}

| volume=95

}}{{Efn|"Accurately stated, the exterior diameter of the Rotunda is 107·83 meters, and its height 84·1 meters"}} While the Rotunda stood, its dome was the largest in the world, larger than the Pantheon in Rome.{{Efn|The Pantheon in Rome, which was dedicated {{circa|126}} AD, over 1,700 years before the Rotunde was completed, has a dome that is {{Cvt|43.3|m}} in diameter}} Not until 1957, 20 years after the Rotunda fell, was a larger dome built: the dome of Belgrade Fair – Hall 1, which is only about {{Cvt|1|m}} larger in diameter.

The Rotunde was designed by the Austrian architect Baron Karl von Hasenauer, and was built by the German entrepreneur and bridge builder {{ill |1=Johann Caspar Harkort VI | 2=de | 3=Johann Caspar Harkort VI.}} and his Duisburg-based company. The Scottish civil engineer John Scott Russell was responsible for the dome, which was built with wrought iron.{{cite web | title=The Rotunda of the 1873 Vienna International Exhibition World's Fair Treasury | date=2006-02-23 | url=https://digital.lib.umd.edu/worldsfairs/result/id/umd:992 | access-date=2023-09-12 | first=Ly Y. | last=Bui}}

Image:Rotunde construction2.jpg

Image:Eroeffnung der Wiener Weltausstellung.png

Image:Gustav Pick Wiener Fiakerlied.jpg's 1885 performance in the Rotunde]]

The German engineer and journalist {{ill|Wilhelm Heinrich Uhland|de}} reported that the Rotunde weighed approximately "80,000 hundredweight (Zoll centner), or about 4000 tons", that is, {{Cvt|4000000|kg}}.{{Efn|"The total weight of the structure of the Rotunde may be stated in round numbers at 80,000 hundredweight (Zoll centner), or about 4000 tons"}}

class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" | Conversions of the Rotunde's weight

A centner is a unit of mass equal to 100 of some base unit of mass. The German equivalent of the centner is the {{lang|de|Zentner}}, and its base unit was traditionally the pound ({{langx|de|Pfund}}), the definition of which varied in Germany. In 1854 the {{lang|de|Zollpfund}} was defined by the German Customs Union ({{langx|de|Zollverein}}) as being equal to 500 grams. The "Zoll[ ]zentner"{{ cite book | access-date=2023-09-14 | date=1909 | language=de | page=982 | publisher=Bibliographisches Institut | publication-place=Leipzig | quote=Im Deutschen Zollverein war 1840–71, in Österreich 1852–1875 der Zollzentner = 50 kg, eingeteilt in 100 Zollpfund; die meisten deutschen Staaten nahmen 1858 oder früher das Z. als Landesgewicht an. | section=Zollgewicht | title=Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon | url=http://www.zeno.org/Meyers-1905/A/Zollgewicht | volume=20 }} or "Zoll[ ]centner"{{ cite book | access-date=2023-09-14 | authorlink=:en:Friedrich von Hermann | date=1862 | first=Friedrich Benedikt Wilhelm | last=von Hermann | orig-date=1862-07-01 | at=RA2-PA228 | quote=In the Zollverein and in Austria the half of the kilogram is in use in the Custom-houses; 100 of such zollpfund are the zollcentners | section=Appendix, No. 5. : Letter addressed by Mr. Von Hermann to the Chairman. | series=Reports from Committees | title=Eleven Volumes. : —(2.)— : East India Communication; Sydney Branch Mint; Weights and Measures. | url={{Google Books URL | 1=UR9cAAAAQAAJ | p=RA2-PA228}} | volume=7 }} is a {{lang|de|Zentner}}/centner with the {{lang|de|Zollpfund}} as its base unit: the {{lang|de|Zollzentner}} is equal to 100 {{lang|de|Zollpfund}}. Accordingly, the weight of the Rotunde reported by Uhland can be converted into metric units: $$ 80,000\ \text{Zollzentner}\cdot\frac{100\ \text{Zollpfund}}{1\ \text{Zollzentner}} = 8,000,000\ \text{Zollpfund} $$ 8,000,000\ \text{Zollpfund}\cdot\frac{500\ \text{g}}{1\ \text{Zollpfund}} = 4,000,000,000\ \text{g} $$ 4,000,000,000\ \text{g}\cdot\frac{1\ \text{kg}}{1000\ \text{g}} = 4,000,000\ \text{kg} $$ 4,000,000\ \text{kg}\cdot\frac{1\ \text{t}}{1000\ \text{kg}} = 4,000\ \text{t} So, by "4000 tons", Uhland presumably meant 4,000 tonnes/metric tons (SI symbol t), not short or long tons.

The central building of the World's Fair was accepted enthusiastically by the public. After the World's Fair, the Rotunde was used for shows and fairs.

Alexander Girardi performed in the Rotunde on 24–25 May 1885, singing Gustav Pick's new composition, the {{lang|de|Fiakerlied}}, for the first time.{{

cite book

| access-date=2023-09-12

| author=Austrian Information Service

| issn=0005-0520

| number=6

| page=5

| publisher=Austrian Information Service

| quote=That fabled entertainer Alexander Girardi, would not recognize “his” Prater where he first sang the famous Fiakerlied in the Rotunde in May 1885

| section=The Prater—Two Centuries of a Vienna Institution

| title=Austrian Information

| url={{Google Books URL | 1=ombHYa7S_ZwC | p=RA5-PA5}}

| volume=XIX

| year=1966

}}{{

cite book

| access-date=2023-09-12

| first=Susana

| first2=Wolfgang

| isbn=9783990940891

| language=de

| last=Zapke

| last2=Fichna

| oclc=1396220012

| page=106

| publisher=Hollitzer Wissenschaftsverlag

| quote=Gesungen von Alexander Girardi am 25. Mai 1885 in der Rotunde

| title=Die Musik des Wiener Praters. Eine liederliche Träumerei: Unbekannte Lieder aus zwei Jahrhunderten

| url={{Google Books URL | 1=K_fMEAAAQBAJ | p=PA106}}

| year=2023

}}

In 1898, Emperor Franz Joseph's {{ill|Franz Joseph Jubilee Exhibition|de|Jubiläumsausstellung 1898|lt=Jubilee Exhibition}} ({{langx|de|Jubiläumsausstellung}}) was held in the Rotunde. The "Collective Exhibition of Austrian Automobile Builders" ({{langx|de|Collektivausstellung österreichischer Automobilbauer}}), organized by the {{ill|Austrian Automobile Club|de|Österreichischer Automobil-Club}} ({{langx|de|Österreichische Automobil-Club}}), was held as part of the Jubilee Exhibition. Four automobiles from manufacturers in Austria-Hungary were shown: the automobile built by Siegfried Marcus in 1888–1889 (the first automobile built in Austria-Hungary), an {{Ill|Egger-Lohner|de}} electric automobile, an Egger-Lohner petrol automobile, and the {{Lang|de|Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau-Fabriks-Gesellschaft}} (now Tatra) Präsident.

The Rotunde burned down in 1937. Its former site is now occupied by buildings associated with the Vienna University of Economics and Business, and with Messe Wien.