Deutschmeister Palais

The last Sunday of September was the "Day of the Open Memorials", Austria's contribution to the European Heritage Days, an annual programme that offers opportunities to visit buildings, monuments and sites, many of which are not normally accessible to the public. I visited the Deutschmeister Palais, originally the residential palace of Archduke Wilhelm Franz Karl of Austria and today the headquarter of the OPEC Fund for International Development.

Deutschmeister Palais

The Deutschmeister Palais or Palais Erzherzog Wilhelm was designed in the years 1864-1868 by the Danish-Austrian architect Theophil von Hansen as a residence for Archduke Wilhelm Franz of Austria, who at that time was Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (Deutschmeister). From 1938 to 1945 it was the seat of the Viennese SS headquarters, from 1945 to 1974 it served as the Federal Police Department in Vienna, today it holds the offices of the OPEC Fund for International Development.