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Friday 15 November 2019

1139) The Wiener Musikverein, Vienna, Austria: 150th Anniversary of the opening of the legendary Musikverein Concert Hall in 1870: Two 5 Euro Commemorative New Year 2020 dated Coins being issued by the Austrian Mint - one in Silver and the other in copper on 04.12.2019:

1139) The Wiener Musikverein, Vienna, Austria: 150th Anniversary of the opening of the legendary Musikverein Concert Hall in 1870: Two 5 Euro Commemorative New Year 2020 dated Coins being issued by the Austrian Mint - one in Silver and the other in copper on 04.12.2019:


The Austrian Mint is bringing out on 04.12.2019, a new 2020 dated New Year's Collector's coin with the theme of celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the opening of Vienna's legendary Musikverein Concert hall in 1870.

The Reverse of the 5 Euro Copper Coin shown placed against the Wiener Musikverein lit up at night


The Reverse of the 5 Euro Silver Coin shown placed against the Wiener Musikverein lit up at night


In keeping with the Anniversary, the 2020 New Year's Coin features the Greek God - Apollo. The image of the God of music and dance is taken from a frieze, designed by August Eisenmenger (1830-1907), found on the ceiling of the Golden Hall of the Musikverein.

New Year's celebrations in Austria are traditionally all about music.

About the Wiener Musikverein (Viennese Music Association):


                                    The Wiener Musikverein

The Wiener Musikverein commonly shortened to Musikverein, is a concert hall in the Innere Stadt borough of Vienna, Austria. It is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

The "Great Hall", due to its highly regarded acoustics, is considered to be one of the finest concert halls in the world, along with Berlin's Konzerthaus, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Boston's Symphony Hall.

With the exception of  Boston Symphony Hall, none of these halls were built in the modern with the application of architectural acoustics and all share a long, narrow shoebox shape.

 The Musikverein was designed by the Danish architect Theophil Hansen (1813-1891) in the Neoclassical style of an ancient Greek Temple and included a Concert Hall and a smaller chamber music hall. 


                                      The "Great Hall"

The "Great Hall" is about 49.0 metres (or 161.0 feet) long, 19.0 metres (or 62.0 feet) wide and 18.0 metres (59.0 feet) high. It has a seating capacity of 1,744 and standing room for 300.

The original equipment comprised a historic pipe organ built by Friedrich Lagegast and the first organ recital was held by Anton Bruckner in 1872. The present day organ was originally installed in 1907 by the Austrian firm of Rieger Orgelbau and rebuilt in 2011.

On 06.01.1870, the building was inaugurated when the first night's audience was captivated by the combination of its architectural and acoustic beauty.

 However, the legendary sound of the Golden Hall is actually the product of fortuitous coincidence - as Hansen had to rely only on his intuition rather than on studies of architectural acoustics. Fortunately, the magnificent architecture resulted in a sublime, but commanding sound unique only to the Musikverein

The room's rectangular shape and proportions, its boxes and sculptures allow for early and numerous sound reflections.

The Musikverein is the venue for the annual Vienna New Year's Concert.

The Commemorative Coin:


The Obverse and Reverse of the 5 Euro Silver Coin placed side by side


The Obverse and Reverse of the 5 Euro Silver Coin placed side by side

In Eisenmenger's frieze, the youthful Apollo floats above the audience. The 5 Euro coin's Reverse design is based on this exquisite mural, which shows him, lyre in hand, with a toga covering his lower body. 

In the background, the famous organ of the Golden Hall is seen. The conjoined, stylised numerals of the year of issue "2020" are placed to the lower left of the primary design.

The Obverse of the 5 Euro Coin includes all the crests of the nine Federated states comprising the Republic of Austria. 

The numeral "5" in the centre denotes the denomination of the coin.

The peripheral inscriptions are - "REPUBLIK OSTERREICH. EURO".

The specifications of the two variants are:

5 Euro Silver Coin:

Denomination: 5 Euros; Metal Composition: .925 Silver (Ag); Weight: 7.78 grams or 0.25 Oz; Coin Quality: Uncirculated; Theme: New Year Coin; Total Weight: 8.41 grams; Mint: Vienna Mint, Austria; Designers: Mag. Helmut Andexlinger, Kathrin Kuntner, Herbert Wahner; Year: 2020.

5 Euro Copper Coin:

Denomination: 5 Euros; Metal Composition: Copper (Cu); Weight: 8.9 grams; Mint: Vienna Mint, Austria; Coin Quality: Uncirculated; Theme: New Year Coin; Designers: Mag. Helmut Andexlinger, Kathrin Kuntner, Herbert Wahner; Year: 2020.
















Links to posts on Austrian Mint Coin issues on this blog:








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20) The Wiener Musikverein, Vienna, Austria: 150th Anniversary of the opening of the legendary Musikverein Concert Hall in 1870: Two 5 Euro Commemorative New Year 2020 dated Coins being issued by the Austrian Mint - one in Silver and the other in Copper on 04.12.2019

For posts on COTY (Coin of the Year) winners since 2015 in a competition held by Krause Publications of Germany, please visit the following links:

Links to posts on Federal Republic of Germany issues and other posts on this blog:






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