62-464: The Burgtheater ( German: [ˈbʊʁk.teˌaːtɐ] ; literally: "Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater", originally known as K.K. Theater an der Burg , then until 1918 as the K.K. Hofburgtheater , is the national theater of Austria in Vienna . It is the most important German-language theater and one of the most important theatres in the world. The Burgtheater
124-409: A carved wooden ceiling. Great windows and balconies faced toward the city of Buda. The façade of the palace was decorated with statues, a and coat-of-arms. In front stood the bronze equestrian statue of Sigismund, later repaired by King Matthias Corvinus . The southern part of the royal residency was surrounded with narrow zwingers . Two parallel walls, the so-called "cortina walls", run down from
186-561: A heavy artillery bombardment, many buildings burned and collapsed. The Stephen's Tower, used as a gunpowder store by the Ottomans, exploded when hit by a single cannon, said to have been fired by a friar called Gábor, also referred as Tüzes Gábor ("Gabriel Fiery"). According to contemporary sources, the explosion killed as many as 1,500 Turkish soldiers and caused a wave on the Danube that washed away artillery batteries and guards standing on
248-460: A more austere Neoclassical Baroque building. The ballroom was redecorated with marbles and stuccoes. After 1853 stately rooms were designed in a French Rococo style, with white-gold stuccoes and furniture from the Hofburg . The palace was already too small for the needs of the royal court, so the kitchens and service rooms were housed in the neighbouring Zeughaus . The palace was connected with
310-589: A rebellion a few years later. The Sultan also took many volumes from the Bibliotheca Corviniana . In 1529 the Ottoman army besieged and occupied Buda again, and the palace was badly damaged. On 29 August 1541 Buda was occupied again by the Ottomans, without any resistance. Buda became part of Ottoman Empire and the seat of the Budin Eyalet . The original German and Hungarian population left
372-652: A simplified Baroque style during the state communist era . Presently, it houses the Hungarian National Gallery , the Budapest Historical Museum , and the National Széchényi Library . The palace complex sits on the southern tip of Castle Hill (Hungarian: Várhegy ). Its defensive walls extend to surround the entire Várnegyed ( lit. ' Castle Quarter ' ) neighborhood to its north, which
434-632: A small Baroque palace was built according to the plans of Johann Hölbling. It was a simple rectangular building, with an inner court and a shorter side wing, which was later demolished. The Hölbling palace is identical with the core of the present-day palace, where the Baroque Court of the Budapest Historical Museum is now located. The interior of the palace was left unfinished when work stopped in 1719. The Hofkriegsrat commissioned Fortunato di Prati to make several plans for
496-631: A tenant. Finally, Ferdinánd Pálffy became the tenant in 1794, until 1817; his finances originated from the mining institute in Banská Štiavnica , the first technical university in the world. The Burgtheater remained a strongly traditional stage with a distinct culture until the late 1960s. From the early 1970s on, it became a venue for some of Europe's most important stage directors and designers. With many debut performances of plays written by Thomas Bernhard , Elfriede Jelinek , Peter Handke , Peter Turrini , and George Tabori , Claus Peymann managed to affirm
558-508: A year for the work, which recommenced in 1765 according to the plans of Franz Anton Hillebrandt. Hillebrandt altered the cour d'honneur façade of the central wing in Rococo style. In 1769 the St. Sigismund Chapel was consecrated and the palace was finished the same year. According to the aggregate statement of Grassalkovich, the costs were 402,679 forints . The future of the complex was uncertain;
620-683: Is one of the main surviving structure of the old palace. After the Battle of Mohács , the medieval Kingdom of Hungary collapsed. The Ottoman Turks occupied the evacuated town on 11 September 1526. Although Buda was sacked and burned, the Royal Palace was not damaged. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent carried away all the bronze statues (the Hunyadis, Pallas Athene and Hercules) with him to Constantinople . The statues were destroyed there in
682-671: Is the only part of the palace that survived the Second World War. Palatine Joseph established gardens on the southern and eastern hillsides of the Castle Hill according to the plans of Antal Tost. The gardens of Buda Castle were among the most famous English-style landscape gardens in Hungary. Palatine Stephen left the palace on 23 September 1848 during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 . On 5 January Buda
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#1732780560239744-593: Is well known for its medieval , Baroque , and neoclassical houses, churches, and other monuments. Several prominent government buildings, including Sándor Palace and the Carmelite Monastery of Buda , are located in the Castle Quarter. Locally, this neighborhood and the palace are collectively called a Vár ( lit. ' the Castle ' ). Castle Hill is linked to Clark Ádám Square and
806-562: The Ottoman Empire , was a condominium of Cis- and Transleithania). Common institutions of both halves of the empire were described from 1867 to 1918 as kaiserlich und königlich /k. u. k. ("imperial and royal"). Contrary to the regulations, the Common Army continued to use the abbreviation k. k. to describe itself until 1889. Today, the abbreviation k. k. is often loosely replaced by k. u. k. ("k and k"), but
868-810: The Royal Palace (Hungarian: Királyi-palota ) and the Royal Castle (Hungarian: Királyi Vár , German: Königliche Burg ), is the historical castle and palace complex of the Hungarian kings in Budapest . First completed in 1265, the Baroque palace that occupies most of the site today was built between 1749 and 1769, severely damaged during the Siege of Budapest in World War II , and rebuilt in
930-625: The Széchenyi Chain Bridge by the Castle Hill Funicular . The Castle Quarter falls within the part of Budapest that UNESCO declared a World Heritage Site in 1987. The first royal residence on the Castle Hill was built by King Béla IV of Hungary between 1247 and 1265. It is uncertain whether it was situated on the southern tip of the hill or on the northern elevation, near the Kammerhof. The oldest part of
992-643: The University of Trnava , whose rector was Alexander Keglevich in the year 1770/71, received permission to move into the Buda Castle . Until 1776, the theater had been financed de facto , but not de jure , by the University of Trnava of the Society of Jesus , which were suppressed by the order of Pope Clement XIV in 1773. Francis II decided on 4 July 1792 to lease the theater again, but couldn't find
1054-553: The 1410s and was largely finished in the 1420s, although some minor works continued until the death of the king in 1437. The palace was first mentioned in 1437, under the name " fricz palotha ". The most important part of Sigismund's palace was the northern wing, known as the Fresh Palace (Hun: Friss-palota ). On the top floor was a large hall called the Roman Hall (70 × 20 m or 230 × 66 ft) with
1116-553: The Austrian Succession . The queen was grateful for this, and the new Royal Palace became the symbol of peace and friendship between the dynasty and the nation. The plans of the splendid, U-shaped Baroque palace with a cour d'honneur were drawn by Jean Nicolas Jadot, chief architect of the Viennese court. After 1753 the plans were modified by his successor, Nicolò Pacassi . Ignác Oraschek, master builder, who guided
1178-853: The Bohemian Crown were part of Cisleithania). In k. u. k. , the second k. ( königlich ) referred to the King of Hungary . Both the titles King of Bohemia and King of Hungary were borne by the Emperor. The abbreviation h. k. k. , which was frequently used in connection with the central ministries, meant "high" imperial–royal ( hohes kaiserlich-königliches ), e.g. in h. k. k. Ministerium für Kultus und Unterricht , h. k. k. Statthalterei für Tirol und Vorarlberg , h. k. k. Ministerium für Handel und Volkswirthschaft , etc. Buda Castle Buda Castle ( Hungarian : Budavári Palota , German : Burgpalast ), formerly also called
1240-709: The Burgtheater's reputation as one of Europe's foremost stages. Among the best known actors in the ensemble of about 120 members are: Sven-Eric Bechtolf , Klaus Maria Brandauer , Kirsten Dene , Andrea Clausen , Bruno Ganz , Karlheinz Hackl , Philipp Hochmair , Robert Meyer , Gertraud Jesserer , August Diehl , Jutta Lampe , Susanne Lothar , Michael Maertens , Tamara Metelka , Birgit Minichmayr , Nicholas Ofczarek , Hedwig Pistorius , Elisabeth Orth , Martin Schwab , Peter Simonischek , Ulrich Tukur , Franz Tscherne , and Gert Voss . Some famous former members of
1302-581: The Hofburg Palace was erected at the vacated site. In 1943, under Nazi rule, a notoriously extreme production of The Merchant of Venice was staged at the Burgtheater—with Werner Krauss as Shylock , one of several theater and film roles by this actor pandering to antisemitic stereotypes. On 12 March 1945, the Burgtheater was largely destroyed in a United States Air Force bombing raid, and one month later, on 12 April 1945, it
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#17327805602391364-632: The Hungarian Chamber, appealed to the public to finish the derelict palace by means of public subscription. Palatine János Pálffy called upon the counties and cities to award grants for the project. The moment was favourable because relations between the Hungarian nobility and the Habsburgs were exceptionally good. The Hungarians supported Queen Maria Theresa in the dire need of the War of
1426-512: The Hungarian capital. In 1810 the palatinal palace was damaged by fire, but in the next decades, plans were made to raise the building with an upper storey, but they were not implemented, although the observatory tower, which hindered the work, was removed. In 1838 the crypt of the St. Sigismund Chapel was rebuilt according to the plans of Franz Hüppmann: the Palatinal Crypt was the burial place of Palatine Joseph and his family. The crypt
1488-529: The Ottoman rule in Buda. In the era between 1541 and 1686, the Habsburgs tried to re-capture Buda several times. Unsuccessful sieges in 1542, 1598, 1603 and 1684 caused serious damage. The Ottoman authorities repaired only the fortifications. According to 17th-century sources, many buildings of the former Royal Palace were roofless and their vaults collapsed. Nonetheless, the medieval palace mostly survived until
1550-482: The Queen decided that the University of Nagyszombat should move to Buda. The nuns moved out and the palace was hastily adapted to use as a university. The work was guided by Farkas Kempelen and led to classrooms, teacher's cabinets, museums, a library and a university press being built. In the front, the false dome was removed and a four-storey observatory tower, planned by Franz Anton Hillebrandt or Karl Georg Zillack,
1612-648: The Queen had no intention to use it as a royal residence, because she did not spend much time in Buda. In 1769 she gave one wing to the Sisters of Loreto , who came from Sankt Pölten . The building was handed over on 13 May 1770, but the elegant Baroque rooms were considered unsuitable for a nunnery . Alexander Keglevich , rector of the Eötvös Loránd University , had provided financing to Maria Theresa, which supposedly should have been repaid, according to her letters to her children and friends. In 1777
1674-410: The St. Sigismund Chapel are the works of Pacassi, while the special double false domes were probably planned by Oraschek, formerly the master builder of Count Grassalkovich. Double false domes were typical features of the so-called Grassalkovich-type Baroque castles like Gödöllő . However, this feature was later removed from the palace. In 1764 the Queen visited the palace and allotted 20,000 thalers
1736-529: The Turks. The name of the cour d'honneur was "Seray meydani" . The favourite nickname of the complex was "Palace of the Golden Apples". The economic decline of Buda was characterised by the stagnation of population, which was not larger in 1686, than the population of the city two centuries earlier in the 15th century. The Ottomans allowed the Hungarian royal palace to fall into ruins. The disused palace
1798-635: The Zeughaus by a glassed passageway. On the western side of the cour d'honneur two smaller buildings were erected, using plans by Weiss and Neuwirth in 1854. The two-storey Stöckl housed the apartments of the archdukes and imperial officials, whereas the Wachlokal was built for the royal guards. Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria visited Buda Castle in 1856 and 1857. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 , Franz Joseph
1860-583: The bottom end of the ceremonial stairs at the side of the theater facing the Volksgarten . Members of honor include: Annemarie Düringer , Wolfgang Gasser , Heinrich Schweiger , Gusti Wolf , Klaus Maria Brandauer, and Michael Heltau . The Burgtheater has seen productions staged by directors like Otto Schenk , Peter Hall , Giorgio Strehler , Luca Ronconi , Hans Neuenfels , Terry Hands , Jonathan Miller , Peter Zadek , Paulus Manker , Luc Bondy , Christoph Schlingensief , and Thomas Vinterberg . Among
1922-494: The bronze gates were decorated with panels depicting the deeds of Hercules, and a great bronze statue of the Greek hero welcomed the guests in the forecourt of the palace complex, where jousts were held. The walled gardens of the palace were laid out on the western slopes of the Castle Hill. In the middle of the enclosure, a Renaissance villa was built by Matthias. Only one column survives of this so-called Aula Marmorea . After
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1984-427: The central and southern wings; they were completely burned out and their interiors were destroyed. The palace was rebuilt between 1850 and 1856 by Josef Weiss and Carl Neuwirth. The 13-axis central wing was raised with a third storey and a squat attic-tower. The central risalit was decorated with a balcony of six colossal columns. With these changes, the former Viennese Baroque palace of Maria Theresa became considered
2046-546: The city, immigrants from the Ottoman Empire and the Balkan peninsula came to their place. Although Turkish travel writers wrote enthusiastically about the beauty of the palace of the Hungarian kings, the new Ottoman government let the palace decay. It was partially used as barracks a storage place and stables, and otherwise it stood empty. The palace was called Iç Kala ("Inner Castle") and Hisar Peçe ("Citadel") by
2108-535: The death of Matthias Corvinus, his successor, King Vladislaus II , carried on the works of the Matthias Palace , especially after his marriage with Anna of Foix-Candale in 1502. Under the reign of King John Zápolya (the last national ruler of Hungary) the palace was repaired. On the southern tip of the Castle Hill, the Great Rondella was built by Italian military engineers. The circular bastion
2170-462: The ensemble were Max Devrient , Josef Kainz , Josef Lewinsky , Joseph Schreyvogel , Adolf von Sonnenthal , Charlotte Wolter , Ludwig Gabillon , Zerline Gabillon , Attila Hörbiger , Paula Wessely , Curd Jürgens , O. W. Fischer , Paul Hörbiger , Otto Tausig , Peter Weck , Fritz Muliar , Christoph Waltz , Ignaz Kirchner , and Gert Voss . Particularly deserving artists may be designated honorable members. Their names are engraved in marble at
2232-520: The faculties being moved to Pest in 1783. In 1791 the palace became the residence of the new Habsburg Palatine of the Kingdom of Hungary, Archduke Alexander Leopold of Austria . After the early death of the palatine in 1795, his younger brother Archduke Joseph succeeded him, followed by Archduke Stephen . The palatinal court in Buda Castle was the centre of fashionable life and high society in
2294-555: The first decades of his reign the king finished the work on the Gothic palace. The Royal Chapel, with the surviving Lower Church , was likely built at that time. After the marriage of Matthias and Beatrice of Naples in 1476, Italian humanists , artists and craftsmen arrived at Buda. The Hungarian capital became the first centre of Renaissance north of the Alps. The king rebuilt the palace in an early Renaissance style. The cour d'honneur
2356-456: The foot of the Castle Hill, between 1875 and 1882. This Neo-Renaissance gateway was designed by a Hungarian architect named Miklós Ybl . The structure was an open arcade, with pavilions, stairways and ramps, and two blocks of flats. Ybl also built a new waterworks pumping station, named Várkert-kioszk (Royal Garden Kiosk), and two stair towers against the medieval cortina walls. The southern stair tower followed French Renaissance style, resembling
2418-660: The great siege of 1686. The medieval palace was destroyed in the great siege of 1686 when Buda was captured by allied Christian forces. In 1686, two years after the unsuccessful siege of Buda, a renewed Western European Christian campaign was started to take the city. This time the Holy League's army was much larger, consisting of 65,000–100,000 men, including German, Hungarian, Croat, Dutch, English, Spanish, Czech, Italian, French, Burgundian, Danish and Swedish soldiers and other Europeans as volunteers, artillerymen and officers. The Turkish defenders consisted of 7,000 men. In
2480-476: The last years of his reign Matthias Corvinus started construction of a new Renaissance palace on the eastern side of the Sigismund Courtyard, next to the Fresh Palace. The Matthias Palace remained unfinished because of the king's early death. The palace had a monumental red marble stairway in front of the façade. Matthias Corvinus was usually identified with Hercules by the humanists of his court;
2542-582: The old ball house fell victim to a fire in 1525. The theater opened on 14 March 1741, the creation of the Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa of Austria , who wanted a theater next to her palace. Her son, Emperor Joseph II , called it the "German National Theater" in 1776. Three Mozart operas premiered there: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782), Le nozze di Figaro (1786), and Così fan tutte (1790), as well as his Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor (1786). Beginning in 1794,
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2604-410: The opposite shore. Habsburg military engineers made several plans and drawings of the buildings in subsequent decades. Although the walls mainly survived, the burned-out shell rapidly decayed from a lack of maintenance. Between 1702 and 1715, Stephen's Tower disappeared completely, and the palace was beyond repair. In 1715, King Charles III ordered the demolition of the ruins. Johann Hölbling surveyed
2666-490: The palace and strengthened its fortifications. Sigismund, as a Holy Roman Emperor , needed a magnificent royal residence to express his prominence among the rulers of Europe. He chose Buda Castle as his main residence, and during his long reign it became probably the largest Gothic palace of the late Middle Ages . Buda was an important artistic centre of the International Gothic style. Construction began in
2728-531: The palace to the River Danube across the steep hillside. The most imposing structure, the Broken Tower (Hun: Csonka-torony ), on the western side of the cour d'honneur , remained unfinished. The basement of the tower was used as a dungeon ; the top floors were probably the treasury of the royal jewels. The last phase of large-scale building activity took place under King Matthias Corvinus. During
2790-463: The palace, but lack of money hindered their implementation. In 1723 the palace was accidentally burned down and the windows were walled up in order to stop further deterioration. Several drawings from the 1730s and 1740s show the unfinished decaying shell of the simple two-storey blockhouse. Some engravings show an idealised finished version which never existed. Sometime around 1730 the roof was repaired. In 1748 Count Antal Grassalkovich , President of
2852-430: The present-day palace was built in the 14th century by Stephen, Duke of Slavonia , who was the younger brother of King Louis I of Hungary . Only the foundations remain of the castle keep , which was known as Stephen's Tower (Budapest) [ hu ] ' (Hungarian: István-torony ). The Gothic palace of King Louis I was arranged around a narrow courtyard next to the keep. King Sigismund significantly enlarged
2914-475: The rebuilding of Buda Castle. The autonomous Hungarian government intended to create a royal palace to match any famous European royal residence (especially their old rival, Vienna 's Hofburg). The rebuilding spanned forty years, between 1875 and 1912, and caused sweeping changes in topography of the entire area. First the Várkert-bazár (Royal Garden Pavilion) was built on the embankment of the Danube, at
2976-481: The staged and costume designers were Fritz Wotruba , Luciano Damiani , Pier Luigi Pizzi , Ezio Frigerio , Franca Squarciapino , Josef Svoboda , Anselm Kiefer , Moidele Bickel , and Milena Canonero . Notable performances include the world premiere of Des Feux dans la Nuit in 1999, whose choreography was done by Marie Chouinard . Imperial-Royal The adjective kaiserlich-königlich (usually abbreviated to k. k. ), German for imperial–royal ,
3038-449: The still-existing structures. The king ordered the surviving marble statues, antiquities, inscriptions and coins should be spared (there is no evidence about the realization of the royal decree). The main part of the palace and the Broken Tower were totally demolished, the hollows and moats were filled and a new flat terrace was established. The southern fortifications, zwingers and rooms were buried under tons of rubbish and earth. In 1715
3100-596: The theater was called the "K.K. Hoftheater nächst der Burg". Beethoven 's 1st Symphony premiered there on 2 April 1800. The last performance, in October 1888, was of Goethe's Iphigenie auf Tauris . The theater's first building adjoined the Hofburg at Michaelerplatz, opposite St. Michael's Church . The theater was moved to a new building at the Ringstraße on 14 October 1888, designed by Gottfried Semper and Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer , and St. Michael's Wing of
3162-580: The theater, Wenzel Sporck , who was the great nephew of Franz Anton Sporck , who had brought the french horn and Antonio Vivaldi to Prague , established a committee to finance the theater under the chairmanship of Franz Keglevich in 1773, and Karl Keglevich became the director of the Theater am Kärntnertor in 1773. Joseph Keglevich declared the theater bankrupt in 1776 and the state, under Joseph II , took over its operation in 1776. Wenzel Sporck and Franz Keglevich were released from their duties in 1776 and
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#17327805602393224-560: The two terms are historically and legally distinct. The prefix k. u. k. ( kaiserlich und königlich ) only properly referred to the authorities and institutions of both halves of the empire. The first k. ( kaiserlich = "imperial") referred to the Emperor of Austria . In k. k. , the second k. ( königlich = "royal", literally "kingly") referred, from 1867, to the King of Bohemia (the Kingdom of Bohemia / Lands of
3286-459: The works, and modified the plans according to his own ideas. The foundation stone of the palace was laid on 13 May 1749, which was the Queen's birthday. The work continued at a good pace until 1758, when financial difficulties caused a seven-year break. By that time only the interiors were left unfinished. According to surviving historical documents, the layout of the palace followed Jadot's signed plans of 1749. The façades, some interior elements and
3348-687: Was applied to the authorities and state institutions of the Austrian Empire until the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 , which established the Austro-Hungarian Empire . Thereafter the abbreviation k. k. only applied to institutions of the so-called Cisleithania (i.e. those lands not part of the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen /Transleithania: Hungary and Croatia-Slavonia ; Bosnia and Herzegovina , annexed in 1878 from
3410-404: Was crowned King of Hungary. The palace played an important part in the lavish ceremony and was a symbol of peace between the dynasty and the nation. In the last decades of the 19th century Budapest experienced rapid economic development. Ambitious urban planning projects were carried out to express the growing wealth and higher status of the Hungarian capital, with special attention being paid to
3472-594: Was erected. In 1778 Hillebrandt built a new chapel for the first king of Hungary, Saint Stephen's , the mummified right hand, which was recovered by Queen Maria Theresa from the Republic of Ragusa in 1771. The Chapel of the Holy Right was situated near the St Sigismund Chapel, in the middle of an inner court. The outer form was octagonal and the inside was oval, crowned by a dome. The altar-piece
3534-493: Was further damaged by a fire of unknown origin. After the war, the theater was rebuilt between 1953 and 1955. The classic Burgtheater style and the Burgtheater-German language were groundbreaking for German-language theater. Before 1776, the theater had been leased from the state by Johann Koháry . After encountering financial difficulties in 1773, he convinced Joseph Keglevich to act as curator. The director of
3596-482: Was later transformed into a gunpowder storage and magazine by the Ottomans, which caused its detonation during the siege in 1686. The original Christian Hungarian population did not feel secure during the Ottoman conquest, their numbers significantly shrank in the next decades, due to their fleeing to the Habsburg ruled Royal Hungary . The proportion of the population who were of Jews and Gypsy families increased during
3658-591: Was modernised and an Italian loggia was added. Inside the palace were two rooms with golden ceilings: the Bibliotheca Corviniana and a passage with the frescoes of the twelve signs of the Zodiac . The façade of the palace was decorated with statues of John Hunyadi , László Hunyadi and King Matthias. In the middle of the court there was a fountain with a statue of Pallas Athene . Only fragments remain of this Renaissance palace: some red marble balustrades, lintels and decorative glazed tiles from stoves and floors. In
3720-458: Was occupied by the Austrian army led by Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz . The chief commander lodged in the royal palace. On 4 May 1849, the Hungarian army, led by Artúr Görgey , laid siege to Buda Castle , which was being defended by General Heinrich Hentzi . On 20 May the Hungarians captured Buda with an assault. The palace was the last stronghold of the Austrian troops, and became a site of heavy artillery fighting. The ensuing fire consumed
3782-404: Was opened in 1741 and has become known as die Burg by the Viennese population; its theater company has created a traditional style and speech typical of Burgtheater performances. The original Burgtheater was set up in a tennis court (called a 'ball house' at the time) that the Roman-German king and later emperor Ferdinand I had built in 1540 in the lower pleasure garden of the Hofburg after
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#17327805602393844-412: Was painted by Joseph Hauzinger. The ribbon-cutting ceremony of the university was held on 25 June 1780, the 40th anniversary of the coronation of the Queen. The throne room became a splendid aula decorated with frescoes depicting the four faculties. In 1953, two grisaille frescoes were discovered on the shorter sides of the room. Functional problems of the university remained unresolved, which led to
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