The Roof-Terrace

As we ordered the elevator in 1997, it was already a determined goal to open the terrace on the roof to the visitors as soon as possible, but suddenly we had to transfer this very area to KEM, a subsidiary company of the Arcotel group. Adequate equivalents were agreed upon after which we reached for a joint license to build on the roof parallel to the tropical house. Whereas the tropical house was built quickly, nothing progressed on the roof. After several discussions a new project was suggested – a hotel. This idea was however rejected by the local court and immediately afterwards our attempts started to proceed with the original plan: opening the terrace, which eventually took us until December 2006.

On April 15th 2007, after a two-week-long test, we finally officially opened the terrace with the support of the district principal Renate Kaufmann, who invited all abutters, and although on this very day the elevator failed one hour before the start of the event, the guests’ feedbacks were very positive.

The Haus des Meeres flak tower therefore becomes the first and only flak tower among the remaining 8 (two in Hamburg) that is fully accessible for the public. One of the most widely-read newspapers in Austria expressed in a headline that this would be "Vienna’s most beautiful viewpoint".

Currently we plan an exhibition about the building of "our tower" and the other flak towers of that time. We have the collaboration of a well-known historian for that undertaking. We plan to install a gallery from the 6th to the 9th floor. Later on, a room on 10th floor – that is still in its original status – would be opened for special exhibitions. We are gratefully asking for the support and contribution of the public to this exhibition as it is not to be forgotten what the original purpose of the tower has been.