Gild the Dome!

The dome of interwoven golden laurel branches of the Secession building is composed of 2.500 leaves and more than 300 berries. It was constructed in 1897/98 based on designs by Austrian architect Joseph Maria Olbrich. Currently the building and the dome are undergoing renovations. By paying € 100,- you can contribute to preserving the dome, an important Viennese landmark, and your name will be listed on an electronic roll of honor (unless you prefer to remain anonymous). For further information please click here.

Secession Building - Detail #2

The motto of the Secessionist movement is written above the entrance of the building: "To every age its art, to art its freedom". The beautiful dome consists of 3000 gilt leaves and 700 berries.

Secession Building - Detail #1

Joseph Maria Olbrich integrated a very symbolic language in the building: The entrance area of the Secession building is decorated by the masks of the three Gorgons, which symbolise architecture, sculpture and painting. The side elevations also feature owls (not in the photo) - the Gorgons and the owl are attributes of Pallas Athene, the godess of wisdom, victory and the crafts. The photo also shows the dominant symbol in the building - the laurel leaf.

Secession Building

The Secessin building is an exhibition hall built in 1897 by Joseph Maria Olbrich as an architectural manifesto for the Vienna Secession (also known as "the Association of Visual Artists Vienna Secession") which was formed that same year by a group of Austrian artists including painters, sculptors, and architects. The first president of the Secession was Gustav Klimt, and Rudolf von Alt was made honorary president. The Secession artists objected to the prevailing conservatism of  the long-established fine art institution Vienna Künstlerhaus with its traditional orientation toward Historicism. The construction of the Secession building, a key work of Viennese Art Nouveau, was finished after only 6 months. Needless to say that the architecture didn´t meet the taste of that time: The building was dismissed as a "a bastard between temple and warehouse" and "a cross between a greenhouse and a blast furnace", the dome was compared to "a head of cabbage".