Vienna's Ringstrasse: a world-famous synonym for 19th-century urban design and architecture, whose values remain valid to this day. But hardly anyone would associate the term Ringstrasse with technology.

Yet behind the historicist façades lies a fascinating arsenal of technical innovations that were state-of-the-art at the time: the parliament's pneumatic tube system, the stage technology of the Burgtheater and State Opera, and the ventilation systems of the Neue Burg. A labyrinth of connecting passages, pipes and shafts in the basement. Building services controls such as levers, wheels, flaps, handles, pipes, cranks and lifts bear witness to inventive spirit and engineering intelligence.
The book takes us behind the scenes. To mark the 160th anniversary of Vienna's Ringstrasse, it focuses on the service areas that are usually invisible/inaccessible and are almost as large as their above-ground equivalents. Photographic essays by Hertha Hurnaus take us into the cellars and attics of the State Opera, the Natural History Museum, the Art History Museum, the Hofburg, the Parliament, the Burgtheater, the City Hall, the University and the former bank at Schottentor. Text contributions by renowned experts on topics such as ventilation technology, the socio-psychology of the hidden, monumental buildings as repositories of knowledge, the Ringstrasse as an infrastructure project, and the language of inventions shed light on the understanding of technology in the 19th century and its relevance for today.