The story
As you stand here, let your eyes travel up the sweeping, symmetrical stone facade of the Palace of Justice. It is a building that seems to demand a certain posture—straight shoulders and a quiet voice. You are standing in Schmerlingplatz, a wide, airy wedge of Vienna that feels like a vital transition point between the grand, theatrical stage of the Ringstrasse and the lived-in hum of the city’s outer districts. This square was named in 1893, the very same year that the man it honors, Anton von Schmerling, passed away.
Imagine a man who lived through the most turbulent shifts of the nineteenth century. Anton von Schmerling was a jurist and a statesman, a person who believed deeply in the power of the law to hold a sprawling, multi-ethnic empire together. Born in 1805, he rose through the ranks of the Austrian judiciary. When the revolutionary fires of 1848 swept through Europe, Schmerling emerged as a key figure, even serving briefly as the Prime Minister of the provisional German government in Frankfurt.
He was often described as a liberal, but he was a very specific kind of reformer. He wanted a constitutional government, but he also believed in a strong, centralized Austrian state. He was the primary mind behind the February Patent of 1861, a constitution that tried to find a middle ground by creating a representative parliament. It is incredibly fitting that he is remembered in this specific spot, a space physically caught between the symbols of law and the symbols of public power.
To one side of you lies the back of the Austrian Parliament, and directly before you is the Justizpalast, the Palace of Justice. This building is the heart of the square. If you were to look at historical photographs, you would see this square filled with smoke in July 1927, when the palace was set ablaze during a massive social protest—a moment that remains a scar on the city’s memory. Today, however, the square feels remarkably peaceful, anchored by the green trees of Grete-Rehor-Park and the Republic Monument.
Schmerlingplatz acts as a bridge. It connects the imperial elegance of the inner city with the winding streets of the eighth district. It is a place where lawyers in dark suits cross paths with students on bicycles, all under the watchful gaze of the heavy stone architecture.
Before you continue on your way, take a moment to look at the very top of the Palace of Justice, right above the main entrance. You will see a large, seated figure of Justitia, the personification of Justice. She holds a gilded sword and a pair of scales. Notice something unusual: unlike many depictions of Justice around the world, she is not wearing a blindfold. In Schmerling’s square, justice was intended to keep its eyes wide open.