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Ballhausplatz is a town square in central Vienna containing the building (with the address Ballhausplatz 2) that for over two hundred years has been the official residence of the most senior Cabinet Minister, the State Chancellor, today the Chancellor of Austria (Prime Minister). As a result, Ballhausplatz is often used as shorthand for the Austrian Federal Chancellery. Until 1918 the Foreign Ministry of Austria-Hungary was also housed here. Similar to Downing Street or the Hotel Matignon, the word Ballhausplatz (or Ballplatz for short) is a synecdoche for the seat of power.
Ballhausplatz is located in the first district Innere Stadt in central Vienna, a few minutes' walk from the Austrian Parliament Building and on the edge of the grounds of Hofburg Imperial Palace. Until 1754 the square itself did not exist, as an imperial hospital was located there. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, erected a real tennis house there, the Ballhaus (ball house). Later the building was used for the Imperial Court Construction Office ( Hofbauamt). At the end of the 18th century, the Ballhaus was ripped down.
Ballhausplatz 2 played an important role in European politics for over 250 years. It was here that Chancellor Klemens Wenzel von Metternich held the Congress of Vienna, which was held after Napoleon Bonaparte's defeat in 1814 and resulted in the "balance of power". Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß was murdered by Nazism in his office in 1934. His successor Kurt von Schuschnigg gave his farewell speech shortly before Austria was annexed by Nazi-Germany in 1938 with his famous closing words " Gott schütze Österreich" ("God save Austria"). After 1945 and the restoration of independence the offices of the Federal Chancellor were once again located here.
During the Schüssel coalition between the conservative ÖVP and the far-right FPÖ in the years 2000 to 2007, regular demonstrations against this government have been held in front of the Chancellor's office.
Ballhausplatz 1 is the address of the Office of the President of Austria ( Österreichische Präsidentschaftskanzlei). The offices of the president himself are located in the Hofburg Imperial Palace.
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