Herrengasse

The Herrengasse (meaning in German language: "Street of the Lords" or "Lords Lane") is a street in Vienna, located in the first district Innere Stadt.

The street existed during Roman times as part of the Limes highway system. The first written mention of the street dates to 1216. The section of the street between the Freyung and Lobkowitzplatz squares was known during the Middle Ages as Hochstraße (High Street).

After Vienna began to establish itself as the imperial capital, the nobility (known in German as Herren or Lords) increasingly migrated to the city to be close to the Hofburg Imperial Palace, the residence of the Habsburg rulers. After the Estates of Lower Austria built their assembly house at the Palais Niederösterreich in 1513, the street was renamed Herrengasse.

The typical of a noble palace (Palais) was the entrance facing the street, sometimes set a little way back, with lush gardens located in the back away from public view. Some of the Palais had multiple entrances from different streets. The Herrengasse used to consist almost exclusively of noble palaces, though some were lost during the course of time. One of the Liechtenstein palaces, located at Herrengasse 8, housed the famous Bösendorfer-Konzertsaal, a concert hall established in 1872. Famous artists such as Franz Liszt, Anton Rubinstein, Joseph Hellmesberger, Jr. and Hans von Bülow performed there. The palace was ripped down and replaced by a modernistic high-rise building in 1913.

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