Oliver Rathkolb
It was to take nineteen years before the distinguished “Citizens’ Ball”, which premiered in 1872in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph, moved from the Redoutensaal of the Vienna Hofburgto the newly built City Hall as the “Ball of the City of Vienna”. Quite deliberately, theincreasingly self-confident bourgeoisie symbolically stood up to the “court balls” and theparticularly exclusive aristocratic “court balls”. Joining this progressive trend at the openingon February 1, 1890 were Carl Michael Zierer, who composed the Viennese Citizen (WienerBürger) waltz (op. 419), and Johann Strauss with his City Hall Ball Dances (Rathaus-Ball-Tänzen) (op. 439). (Fulltext)
