Das Banknoten-Verbrennhäusel am linken Wienufer, anstelle des heutigen Beethovenplatzes

Art Historical Context

Gustav Zafaurek’s undated watercolor on paper, titled “Das Banknoten-Verbrennhäusel am linken Wienufer, anstelle des heutigen Beethovenplatzes,” offers a quiet record of a vanished piece of Vienna’s riverside. The small sheet (15.3 × 30.3 cm) shows a modest building once used for the secure burning of worn or withdrawn banknotes on the left bank of the Wien River. Today the site is occupied by Beethovenplatz, yet Zafaurek’s delicate washes preserve the earlier structure and its functional, almost secretive purpose within the city’s financial routines. Executed in the fluid medium of watercolo...