Austrian Postal Savings Bank

The Postsparkasse, built by Otto Wagner between 1904 and 1906, is one of the buildings that early modernism kept citing: the façade is thin marble and granite slabs fixed to the brick with aluminium bolts left deliberately visible, so the cladding reads honestly as a skin rather than pretending to be structure - a break with everything on the Ringstrasse around it. Inside, the main banking hall is a glass-roofed and glass-floored volume with slender riveted columns, aluminium heating ducts standing free in the room and furniture Wagner designed to match, the whole thing lit from above and from below. The bank left the building and its future has been repeatedly uncertain; the hall and a small Wagner museum have been open to visitors on restricted hours, which change.

What to look for

• Visible aluminium bolts - the cladding pinned to the wall and admitting it.
• The glass banking hall - roof and floor both glazed, lit from two directions.
• Wagner's fittings - furniture, ducts and details designed with the building.
• A modernist reference point - the break from the Ringstrasse next door to it.

When to go

All year; check current opening before travelling. An hour.

Good to know

Opening has been intermittent since the bank moved out and hours are restricted - confirm first. Only part of the building is accessible. The exterior can be seen any time.

Nearby

The Ringstrasse, MAK museum and Stadtpark are within a few minutes.

Key facts