Photography Barracks and Access to the Walls in the Austro-Hungarian Legation

A black-and-white photograph showing the barracks and the approach to the walls of the Viennese embassy or legation in the Legation Quarter in Beijing (Dongjiaominxiang 東交民巷). The latter was situated between 1861 and 1959 in the area of the Inner City (Neicheng 内城), east of present-day Tiananmen Square (Tiananmen Guangchang 天安門廣場), and south of the Forbidden City (Gugong 故宫 or Zijincheng 紫禁城). After the Second Opium War (1856-1860), several foreign delegations settled there and established embassies or legations of their countries. The city attracted many diplomats, soldiers, scholars, artists, tourists, and Sinophiles.

In 1869, Austria-Hungary also signed a trade agreement with the Beijing court that was unfavourable to China. Soon after, the Viennese court opened its representative office in Beijing in a small mansion, which was transformed into an embassy in 1896. The renovation of the embassy building, which was severely damaged during the Boxer Rebellion, was led by the Slovenian-born architect Ivan John Jager. Austria-Hungary received a concession because of its involvement in the suppression of the uprising in the city of Tianjin during the Boxer Rebellion in 1902.

The photograph is the 19th of 449 photographs of Beijing and its surroundings in the album of Ivan Skušek Jr., purchased during his stay in Beijing (1914–1920). In the handwritten inventory of the album, the photograph is referred to as Oest. eng. Gesandtschaft: Kasernen und Auffahrt zür Mauer. (DZ)