Palais Modena

The Palais Modena stands in Vienna’s first district, Herrengasse 7, a three-storey classical building completed in 1678. It began as a Renaissance town house owned by families like the Rottals and Dietrichsteins before becoming a grand early-baroque palace. Architects Dominico Carlone and Pietro Bussi led the transformation, while frescoes were painted by Carlo Antonio Bussi. The palace gained political importance when Erzherzogin Maria Beatrix bought it in 1811. She commissioned Alois Pichl to redesign it in classical style so her daughter Maria Ludovica could host Emperor Franz I. Later it housed the imperial police and censorship office, then the Ministerrat’s office until 1918. After 1918 it became the seat of the new republic’s Interior Ministry. Inside, visitors find the Feststiege with steps of Kaiserstein, walls adorned with statues of Athene, Diana and Ceres, and a restored Sala terrena. The newly rebuilt chapel at the end of the right wing contains an Altarkreuz by Arnulf Rainer. The central hall links the ceremonial rooms, each decorated with ceiling paintings and antique motifs.