For a panorama a specific type of architecture is needed. Panoramas call for monumental buildings erected on a circular or a polygonal ground plan. Those erected in big cities can measure up to 20 metres in height and up to 40 metres in diameter.

Plans of Altötting’s panorama building by Georg Völkl, 1902

Looking behind the scenes: indirect lighting, three-dimensional elements and painted canvas, visitors’ platform from below

Altötting’s panorama rotunda was designed for a middle-sized town. It measures 15 metres in height (not including the lantern) and 30 metres in diameter. It is a half-timbered plastered building erected on a twelve-sided polygonal ground plan. A skylight ring running around the roof lights the interior. The domed roof is supported by a large central wooden column. The entire building is a masterpiece of carpentry.