Minister of War (Austria-Hungary) - The War Ministry

The War Ministry

The Ministry initially was located at the historical seat of the Hofkriegsrat, the Court Council of War serving the Habsburg monarchs on Am Hof square in the central Innere Stadt borough of Vienna. After the Council's dissolution in the 1848 Revolution, the building had housed the War Ministry of the Austrian Empire; Minister Theodor Franz Baillet von Latour was lynched in front of it during the October Uprising.

From 1909 to 1913, the imposing Neoclassical Imperial and Royal War Ministry headquarters on Ringstraße boulevard, the department's final home, was erected according to plans designed by architect Ludwig Baumann, who had also built the Oriental Academy, the current US embassy. Dedicated on 1 May 1913 during the reign of Emperor Francis Joseph I and Minister Krobatin's tenure, it can still be seen in Vienna today; it is officially called Government Building (Regierungsgebäude) and is used as seat of the Minister for Economy, the Minister for Social Affairs and the Minister for Agriculture and Environment. In front of the ministry building Am Hof as well as, since 1913, of the existing building stands the equestrian monument of Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky, the most venerated military leader of the Austrian monarchy, designed by Kaspar von Zumbusch.

The Navy Section of the ministry (k.u.k. Marinesektion) had its own building at Vordere Zollamtsstrasse, corner of Marxergasse, behind the headquarters and is still existing, too. At the outside of this building the coats of arms of 16 Imperial and Royal ports on the Adriatic Coast are displayed.