Austrian Parliament
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The Austrian parliament consists of two chambers,
- the Nationalrat (national council) and
- the Bundesrat (federal council).
The composition of the Nationalrat is determined every four years by general elections. The national council is the dominant chamber in the Austrian legislation.
The Bundesrat is fed by the individual Landtagen (Parliament of the States of the Federal Republic). The Bundesrat possesses a dilatory right of veto in most cases, that only a strong, persistant resolution of the national council can set into place.
The Bundesversammlung consists of the members of both houses of parliaments and convenes only on rare occasions.
The parliament building is located on the Viennese Ringstrasse, one of the city's most famous and central sights. It was built during 1874-1883 by Theophil von Hansen as head of the government. Hansen concentrated on a neo-attic, classic Greek style of architecture for Austria's hub of government. Before the parliament building stands the Pallas Athena, a statue of the Greek goddess of wisdom. During the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the building housed the Reichsrat of Cisleithania.