in all parts of the Empire on behalf of the House of Habsburg: Julius von Haynau, Joseph Wenzel Radetzky, Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz, and Count Josip Jelačić of Bužim. Carl Rahl was assigned with the pictorial decoration of the Staircase, a task he carried out together with his students Christian Griepenkerl and Eduard Bitterlich in 1864. The centre of the gold-ornamented ceiling features frescos with allegorical depictions of power and unity (centre), fame and honour (right), and cleverness and courage (left). The staircase is crowned by an allegorical marble sculpture group titled Austria, created by Johannes Benk in 1869. Indisputably, the most representative section of the entire museum is the Ruhmeshalle (hall of fame) located in the first floor. A particular highlight of the Ruhmeshalle are the frescos by Karl von Blaas, portraying the most important military events (victories) in Austrian history since the times of the Babenberg dynasty. The four large wall arches show the victories of the Imperial Army, the battle of Nördlingen 1634, the war council at the battle of St. Gotthard 1664, the battle of Zenta 1697, and the relief of Turin 1706; the left adjacent hall contains depictions of events during the reign of Maria Theresia and Joseph II until the siege of Belgrade in 1789; the right adjacent hall contains depictions of the Napoleonic Wars stretching from the battle of Würzburg in 1796 to Tyrol's struggle for freedom in 1809 and the armistice negotiations of field Marshal Radetzky with King Vittorio Emanuele II of Sardinia following the battle of Novara in 1849. The true significance of the Ruhmeshalle, that of a memorial, however, only becomes discernible at the second glance: On the walls of the adjacent halls and in the Ruhmeshalle itself, one will find several marble plaques, bearing the names of over 500 officers (from colonels to generals of the Imperial Army, known as Imperial and Royal (k.u.k.) Army as of the beginning of the Thirty Years' War in 1618 until the end of World War I in 1918), indicating the place and date of their death. History Although the museum building itself was already completed in 1856, work on its interior lasted until 1872. The collection was completed with pieces from the former court arms collection of the Imperial armoury, the Imperial private collection in the Laxenburg Palace, and the Imperial treasury in Vienna. Initially, the collection consisted exclusively of arms