Named after Karlsplatz, the square named in 1899 after Emperor Karl VI.
The square was created when the Wien river was regulated and covered over in 1894–1900, and named in 1899 after Emperor Karl VI. During the plague of 1713/14 he vowed to build a church: the Karlskirche, built 1716–1737, stands on the square. The station opened in 1899 as ‘Akademiestraße’ and took its present name the same year.