Giant Ferris Wheel
Giant Ferris Wheel
The Giant Ferris Wheel, trademark of Austria’s capital city and a symbol of Vienna’s world-famous Prater, creates a very special point of reference for every visitor with its unmistakeable silhouette, clearly visible even from great distances.
TECHNIC
In 1937 engineer Friedrich Beck, who at this point in time could look back on a career at the Giant Ferris Wheel spanning over almost 40 years, compiled a technical description of the Giant Ferris Wheel which is still valid today.
The city’s authorities initially raised objections to the construction of the Giant Ferris Wheel which was an unusually bold project for the time. Only after Johann Brick, professor for bridge construction at the Technical University of Vienna, had examined the project and submitted his calculations to the municipal planning and building control office did it receive a building permit.
PANORAMA
Wheel of time.
For over a century now the Giant Ferris Wheel has been turning high above Vienna, offering a spectacular view of the city on the Danube. The wheel has become an unmistakeable symbol of the city, visible from far away for locals and visitors alike. Now another wheel turns at its feet: The Wheel of History – illustrated through the Panorama exhibition.
This exhibition revives age-old Prater traditions through the help of ingenious artistic and technical audio-visual installations in eight cabins. This is not a museum, but a stage, a stage of history. The exhibition takes on two thousand years of the city’s history and stories about the Prater.
