Ballhausplatz

Ballhausplatz is located in the first district Innere Stadt in central Vienna, a few minutes' walk from the Austrian Parliament Building and on the edge of the grounds of Hofburg Imperial Palace.

It was constructed in 1717/19 by the architect Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and expanded in 1766 by Nicolò Pacassi under the guidance of Chancellor Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz.

Originally called the Geheime Hofkanzlei (Secret Court Chancellery), it was expanded in 1881 and again in 1902, when the Haus-, Hof-, und Staatsarchiv (today the Austrian State Archive) were added on the site of the former Minoritenkloster monastery, next to the Minoritenkirche.

During the Schüssel coalition between the conservative ÖVP and the far-right FPÖ in the years 2000 to 2007, regular demonstrations against this government have been held in front of the Chancellor's office.

The inscription on top of the three-step sculpture features a poem by Scottish poet, Ian Hamilton Finlay (1924-2006), made up of just two words: all alone.