Lusthaus, Heritage building in Prater Park, Leopoldstadt, Austria.

The Lusthaus is a two-storey octagonal pavilion at the southeastern end of the Prater Hauptallee, near the Freudenau racecourse. Its pale yellow facade has white trim, a dark hipped roof topped by a smaller octagonal lantern with multi-pane windows, and a first-floor balcony carried on slender white columns. Gold lettering above the entrance reads "CAFE-RESTAURANT" and "LUSTHAUS"; the ground floor has tall windows with dark green shutters.

The building was constructed in 1538 as a hunting lodge under the name Casa Verde and later underwent major transformation. After the Prater opened to the public, significant renovations took place between 1781 and 1783 to adapt it as a gathering space.

The name Casa Verde, or "green summer house", comes from the hunting lodge first mentioned in 1560. In the 19th century the Lusthaus drew nobility and bourgeoisie; in the inter-war years it became a bar with dance and music. Today a coffeehouse and restaurant occupy the building, whose facade carries the gold lettering "CAFE-RESTAURANT" and "LUSTHAUS".

The Lusthaus sits at the southeastern end of the Prater Hauptallee, near the Freudenau racecourse, so the walk or ride along that straight avenue is the usual approach. The building is a listed monument housing a café and restaurant, and the terrace faces the former Danube Canal bed, moved in 1834.

The Lusthaus was built in 1538 at the point where Prater Avenue met the Danube Canal, and it stood directly on the water until 1834, when the canal was moved. The building was first recorded in 1560 as Casa Verde, the "green summer house", serving as a hunting lodge in the imperial Prater hunting ground.