The square then called Mehlplatz (Flour square) was renamed Rudolfsplatz in 1880 after Archduke Rudolf, the heir to the Habsburg throne. The reason for this step might have been that the new Philharmonic building which was erected here in 1876 somehow required a more prestigeous name for the square... As a matter of fact the square remained what it always was: a market place, even after the fancy Hotel Bristol (to be seen in the background) was opened here in 1906. Only in 2004 the stands of the then covered market (built in 1937) were pulled down, and the current Philharmonic Square was refurbished with an enormous fountain in its center. <br /><br /><em>Helmut Kusdat</em>