Riesenrad (Vienna) | ferris wheel

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The Riesenrad (meaning "giant wheel") is a Ferris wheel at the entrance of the Prater amusement park in Vienna, Austria. It was one of the earliest Ferris wheels to be built, having been erected in 1897 to celebrate Emperor Franz Josef I's golden Jubilee. The designer was an Englishman, Walter Bassett, which explains why the wheel's diameter is a round number in Imperial units - 200 feet (approximately 61 m).

The wheel originally had carriages on every spoke, but the carriages were destroyed in fighting between the SS and the Soviets in 1945, and after the war the wheel was rebuilt with a carriage only on every other spoke.

It has been featured in such films as "The Third Man", "The Living Daylights" and "Before Sunrise".

The Riesenrad is now one of Vienna's most popular tourist attractions, and symbolizes the city for many people.