Palais Ephrussi, Neo-Renaissance palace in Innere Stadt, Austria

Palais Ephrussi is a five-story building on Universitätsring 14 featuring detailed architectural ornamentation from the founding era. A glass-covered courtyard with an Apollo terracotta fountain sits at its center.

Architect Theophil von Hansen designed this palace between 1872 and 1873 for banker Ignaz von Ephrussi, who came from Odessa. The building rose during Vienna's major urban transformation along the Ringstraße.

The building's name comes from the Ephrussi banking family, who came from Odessa and lived here until 1938. Edmund de Waal's 2010 book The Hare with Amber Eyes traces the family and the palace; its title refers to one piece of the 264 netsuke, a wedding gift from Charles Ephrussi in Paris to Viktor and Emmy. A 2019/2020 exhibition at the Jewish Museum Vienna covered the family.

The building sits directly across from Schottentor transit hub and near the University of Vienna's main building. It serves as a helpful landmark when exploring this part of the Ringstraße.

The 264 netsuke were a wedding gift from Parisian relative Charles Ephrussi to Viktor and Emmy Ephrussi. The story that servant Anna hid them in her mattress and returned them to Elisabeth de Waal in December 1945 has never been verified; historian Oliver Rathkolb searched for Anna without success. The collection is now with Edmund de Waal, whose 2010 book is named after one piece, The Hare with Amber Eyes.