Tag Archives: austrian

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Austria, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Travel

Skylight, Austrian Postal Savings Bank

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Skylight, Austrian Postal Savings Bank
Skylight above the main interior space of the Austrian Postal Savings Bank

Skylight, Austrian Postal Savings Bank. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Skylight above the main interior space of the Austrian Postal Savings Bank

The Austrian Postal Savings Bank in Vienna is an astonishing bit of modernist architecture. There is a lot of see in Austria, and for various reasons this didn’t make it onto many of the lists we consulted. However, close to the end of our 2018 visit we got a recommendation to visit this place, which turned out to not be all that far from where we were staying.

The building, both historically and architecturally, is a fascinating place. My understanding is that the Austrian Postal Savings Bank was a sort of revolutionary extension of banking services to working people in Austria, to encourage them to develop savings habits even though the amounts they were likely to deposit paled next to what the wealthy had to work with . This particular building is also a beautiful example of modernist architecture of the early 20th century. The photograph looks straight up from the floor of the main room in the building, a large open space surrounded by service windows/desks. This skylight is simple but very big, and it produces absolutely lovely interior light.

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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Austria, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Travel

Interior, Austrian Postal Savings Bank

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Interior, Austrian Postal Savings Bank
Main interior space of the historic, modernist architecture Austrian Postal Savings Bank

Interior, Austrian Postal Savings Bank. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Main interior space of the historic, modernist architecture Austrian Postal Savings Bank

Today I’m breaking up the stream of Eastern Sierra autumn color photographs and returning to the even larger stream of photographs from our travels this past summer. This time we’re back in Vienna, where we spent four nights back in August. It was our first visit and, as seems to be the case with first visits to such places, the experience was a combination of being fascinated/impressed by the city along with beginning to get a sense of its character. Four days is, of course, too little time to really understand a place, but during four days our relationship to such a place changes quite a bit.

We got a recommendation from someone to locate and visit the Austrian Postal Savings Bank (Österreichische Postsparkasse), and we’re glad we went. The place does not seem at all to be on the lists of “things you must see in Vienna,” but if you are interested in architecture and history it probably should be. I won’t try to recount my limited understanding of the history here (there are great resources online, and you can start with Wikipedia) but the modernist building is remarkable, both in its overall effect and in its details. This photograph shows the main room, now mostly vacant, which is a remarkable modern, bright, and airy space, lit from about via a huge skylight.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook |
Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.