 The Vienna Conference in 1855 was the first presence of Gorchakov in an international forum, and his performance in representing Russia at the Paris Conference of 1856 saw Alexander II appoint him as Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs.In 1882, scientist and diplomat Prince Aleksey Borisovich Lobanov-Rostovsky was appointed as the Empire's representative in Vienna.In 1891 he bought several houses on Reisnerstraße from Adolphe I, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, the former Duke of Nassau, which still houses the embassy and consular section in Vienna, and he also began construction of the Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral.