1857 Heinrich Drasche Wienerberger Habsburg Imperial Eagle Vienna Austria Brick For Sale

For your consideration is an exceptionally rare and historically significant original c.18571880 Heinrich Drasche / Wienerberger fired-clay masonry brick from the Wienerberg works in Vienna, dating from the great building expansion of the Habsburg Empire under Emperor Franz Joseph I. Measuring approximately 11.0 by 3.0 by 5.5 inches and weighing approximately 10 lbs, the brick bears the distinctive impressed factory mark HD for Heinrich Drasche, flanking a crowned Habsburg double-headed eagle with a central W for Wienerberg. Museum-catalogued examples carrying this same mark are attributed to Heinrich Drasches Wienerberg works and dated to the period 18571880.
Heinrich Drasche assumed control of the Wienerberg brick enterprise in 1857 and transformed it into one of the most important building-material concerns in Austria-Hungary. His factories supplied the enormous quantities of brick required for Viennas rapid expansion during the Ringstrasse and Grnderzeit era, when new government buildings, aristocratic residences, civic monuments, commercial structures, and entire residential districts reshaped the imperial capital. The crowned double-headed eagle on this example is part of Drasches official factory mark and reflects the Habsburg imperial context of the enterprise, while the central W specifically identifies the Wienerberg production site.
This particular brick was not merely a factory sample. Its substantial edge wear, surface abrasion, and surviving period mortar demonstrate that it was actually incorporated into masonry and later removed from a historic structure. While the precise building from which it was salvaged is unknown, the physical evidence confirms genuine architectural use during the period when Wienerberger bricks were helping transform Vienna into one of Europes great imperial capitals. The brick therefore preserves not only the industrial history of Heinrich Drasche and Wienerberger, but also the broader material culture of Franz Joseph-era Vienna.
Preserved in authentic architectural condition with expected chips, surface wear, mortar residue, and age-related patina, this is a compelling original artifact of 19th-century Viennese construction, Habsburg industrial history, and Ringstrasse-era urban expansion. Its museum-documented makers mark, imperial eagle, Wienerberg identification, substantial size, and evidence of actual masonry use make it an especially desirable object for collectors of Austrian imperial history, architectural antiques, historic building materials, and European industrial heritage.