Ringstraße

The Ring Road (German: Ringstraße) is a circular, more properly called grand boulevard ring road surrounding the oldest historical city centre Innere Stadt district of Vienna, Austria and is one of its main sights. It is located on the site of the former medieval city fortifications and the open military plain (glacis) that lay before them. Constructed in the mid-19th century after the dismantling of the city walls, its architecture is typical of the eclectic, historicist style called Ringstraßenstil ("ring road style") of the 1860s to 1890s, a collection of imposingly grand neo-Gothic, neo-Renaissance, neo-Classical and neo-Baroque. Known for its unique architectural beauty and history, it has also been called the "Lord of the ring roads", and is inscribed by UNESCO as part of Vienna's World Heritage Site.

This grand boulevard was built to replace the city walls, which had been built during the 13th century and funded by the ransom payment derived from the release of Richard the Lion Heart Richard I of England, and reinforced as a consequence of the First Turkish Siege in 1529. The walls were surrounded by a glacis about 500m wide, where buildings and vegetation were prohibited for military defensive reason. But by the late 18th century these fortifications had become obsolete. Under Emperor Joseph II, streets and walkways were built in the glacis, lit by lanterns and lined by trees. Craftsmen built open-air workshops, and stalls were set up. But the Revolution of 1848 was required to trigger a more significant change.

Since the Ringstraße had always been meant primarily for show, a parallel Lastenstraße (cargo road) was built on the outside of the former glacis. This street is commonly known as 2-er Linie, named after the number "2" in the identifiers of the various streetcar or tram lines which used it. It is still an important traffic thoroughfare.

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