Wiener Riesenrad

The Wiener Riesenrad (German: [ˈviːnɐ ˈʁiːzn̩ˌʁaːd]; 'Vienna Giant [Ferris] Wheel'[1]), or simply Riesenrad, is a 64.75-metre (212 ft) tall Ferris wheel at the entrance of the Prater amusement park in Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district of Austria's capital Vienna.

It is one of Vienna's most popular tourist attractions, and symbolises the district as well as the city for many people.

[2] Its purpose was to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Emperor Franz Josef I, and it was one of the earliest Ferris wheels ever built.

Bassett's Ferris wheel manufacturing business was not a commercial success, and he died in 1907 almost bankrupt.

However, when the Grande Roue de Paris was demolished in 1920, the Riesenrad became the world's tallest extant Ferris wheel, and it remained so for the next 65 years, until the construction of the 85-metre (279 ft) Technostar in Japan in 1985.

The Riesenrad, seen from the outside of the Prater
Lt. Walter Bassett Bassett (1864-1907), RN, builder of the Wiener Riesenrad
Share of the Wiener Riesen Rad Ltd., issued 21. March 1898