Maps

Consider the maps below, which are approximately all to the same scale. The 1800 map shows Vienna's walls, and the Danube – WienRiver junction. By 1858, much of the walls have gone; the Ring has not been begun. On the 1875 street plan the pneumatic pipe routes are shown in red. The 1891 street map shows the future site of the Kriegsministerium. Hajek’s system map of 1913 clearly shows the W25 connecting pipe. And the 2011 street map shows today's buildings and thoroughfares. One may deduce:

• There was a pipe route under the Postgasse building as shown on the 1875 pipe-run map. Pipes ran through it in 1875 from Fleischmarkt to Dominikanerbastei, turning left to Ferdinandsbrucke and Leopoldstadt, and right towards Kärntnerring and Landstrasse.



• Once the Franz Josefs Kaserne and its exercise-grounds had been demolished and replaced by the Postsparkasse building (which opened in 1906), and the Kriegsministerium had been erected, it would be easy to run a new pipe alongside the existing ones, then either (a) down Dominikanerbastei, along Rosenbursenstrasse, up Stubenring, and into the new building; or (b) through the Postsparkasse cellars, down Georg Coch Platz, and straight across the Ring into the Post Office which was at the front at ground level. The latter is much easier!

1800	1858	1875	1891	1913	2011
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