Home»All Photographs»Austria, World Heritage (click to see more)»Historic Centre of Vienna»Secession building

The Secession Building (German: Wiener Secessionsgebäude) is an exhibition hall built in 1897 by Joseph Maria Olbrich as an architectural manifesto for the Vienna Secession, located in Vienna, Austria. Secession refers to the seceding of a group of rebel artists from the long-established fine art institution.The building features the Beethoven Frieze by Gustav Klimt one of the most widely recognized artworks of Secession style (a branch of Art Nouveau, also known as Jugendstil). The building was financed by Karl Wittgenstein the father of Ludwig Wittgenstein.
The motto of the Secessionist movement is written above the entrance of the pavilion: "To every age its art, to every art its freedom" (German: Der Zeit ihre Kunst. Der Kunst ihre Freiheit). Below this is a sculpture of three gorgons representing painting, sculpture, and architecture.