Plan of the Weltausstellung, Vienna 1873

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Plan of the Weltausstellung, Vienna 1873

This plan of the Vienna fair of 1873 forms one plate of a pamphlet entitled "Weltausstellung 1873 Wien" which measures about eight by ten inches, and was probably sold at the fair as a souvenir and guide.

By 1873 Vienna held a somewhat tarnished image in the minds of the rest of the world. The Austria-Hungary Empire had lost a significant amount of land and power over the last two decades, and a war with France, as well as conflicts with Prussia had triggered internal social and economic upheavals. Austria had several goals for the fair. It wanted to showcase its economic reconstruction, and Vienna's progress in city planning. It meant to eradicate its current reputation as an unstable country. According to fair commissioner Raimond Scramm, Vienna was also trying to position itself as a center of exchange between the East and the West.

Scramm's statement is supported by the fact that it was the Lower Austrian Trade Association that proposed the exposition in 1870. The current Emperor Franz Joseph approved the idea and put Wilhelm von Schwarz-Sendborn, the man who had organized Austrian exhibits at previous world's fairs, in charge. Schwarz-Sendborn wanted "a truly universal exhibition , that would embrace every field on which human intellect has been at work" (87, Thurston). Changed from the initial label of "Welt-Industrieausstellung (International Industry Exhibition)," the name of the fair was chosen to represent the principle of universalism. It was finally baptized "Weltausstellung", meaning International Exhibition.

Vienna's Prater Park, located in the northeast section of the city, was chosen as the exposition site. The park was approximately 4,000 acres and consisted of ...

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...the fact that vendors were charging high prices for their goods and services, discouraged visitors from coming to the exposition. Vienna never held another world fair after 1873.

Bibliography

Findling, John E., Historical Dictionary of World's Fairs and Expositions, 1851-1988 New York: Greenwood Press, 1990

Gindriez, Charles, International Exhibitions New York: A.S. Barnes & Company, 1878

Scramm, Raimond, The World's Fairs: Letters on International Exhibitions by a Commissioner to Vienna in 1873 Geneva: Printing Office of the Continent and Swiss Times, 1879

Thurston, Robert Henry, Reports of the Commissioners of the United States to the International Exhibition held at Vienna, 1873 Washington: Government Print Office, 1876

Author unknown, Great Britain Royal Commission for the Vienna Universal Exhibition of 1873 London: H.M. Stationary Office, 1874

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