Ballhausplatz

Ballhausplatz in Vienna's first district is more than a square: it is a shorthand for Austrian power. Framed by the Volksgarten, the Federal Chancellery, the Hofburg, and the Heldenplatz, the square housed the Austrian Foreign Ministry for 286 years. Today "der Ballhausplatz" functions as a metonym for the Austrian federal government — the equivalent of "Downing Street" in Britain — a modest-looking space weighted with history.