Billrothhaus

The Billrothhaus is the headquarters of the Gesellschaft der Ärzte in Wien (College of Physicians in Vienna). It was named after Theodor Billroth, an Austrian physician and former president of the society, Theodor Billroth.

Due to the increasing size of the society's book collection and its membership, the society’s operations relocated several times. Eventually in 1855, the former society president, Heinrich Bamberger, set up a committee to plan the construction of a building on a site to be purchased by the society. In 1888, Theodor Billroth, the then-president, called upon the members to buy shares of the yet-to-be-built society house. A 662m2 site in Vienna's 9th district was bought for 57,000 guilders.

The committee established the following building requirements:

The architect Ludwig Richter was awarded the commission and two years later, on October 27, 1893, the building was officially opened by Theodor Billroth.

The two story building, with basement, has undergone several alterations since 1906. The patio was deepened and the basement dried in order to create a book storage area. In 1909, the patio was extended to accommodate large and small archives and a claokroom. The library and the large conference room remain on the wing facing the street. The small conference room, behind the stairway, has been converted into a reading room where members can browse journals.

On 9 May 1919 the newly elected president, Anton Eiselsberg, proposed, and the society agreed, that the building be named "Billrothhaus".

During World War II the College of Physicians was abolished and replaced by the "Wiener Medizinische Gesellschaft" which was controlled by the Nazis. The library was removed to a barn to protect it from bomb attacks. The Billrothhaus which sustained damage during the war, was repaired after the war’s end, when the College of Physicians was reinstituted. The library was retrieved and the basement was altered into book storage.

The building has been under monumental protection since 2008.

The Billrothhaus, erected 1892/93 has two floors and five axes. It is a palatial building in the Neo-Renaissance style. The front is rusticated and at the level of the upper floor, arched windows can be found between Corinthian pilasters.

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