Many important actions and events took place here, most notably Adolf Hitler's ceremonial announcement of the Austrian Anschluss to Nazi Germany on 15 March 1938.
Blueprint of the planned Kaiserforum by Gottfried Semper
The present-day Heldenplatz on the former outer plaza of the Hofburg was built in the course of the lavish Ringstraße boulevard project under the reign of Emperor Francis Joseph. The planned Kaiserforum (imperial forum), however, was never completed. From 1864 onwards, renowned architects like Carl von Hasenauer, Theophil Hansen and Heinrich Ferstel competed presenting their drafts, superseded by Gottfried Semper in 1869.
Semper designed a wide-scale 'general plan', extending from the Leopold Wing of Hofburg Palace in the northeast beyond the Ringstraße to Maria-Theresien-Platz between the mirror-imaged buildings of the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Naturhistorisches Museum up to the nowadays Museumsquartier in the southwest. Construction started in 1871 and from 1881 the Neue Burg Wing was erected. When the masons' work ceased in 1913, the northwestern part in the Volksgarten park remained unfinished. It offers a panoramic view of the Ringstraße with the Austrian Parliament Building, the Rathaus (town hall), and the Burgtheater.
Heroes
Hitler announcing the Anschluss on the Heldenplatz, March 1938
The historical connotation of Hitler's speech remains strong in the public perception. This is also the reason why Heldenplatz has been the subject of several works of literature, most prominently of Thomas Bernhard's drama Heldenplatz and a poem by Ernst Jandl titled wien: heldenplatz.