Schönbrunn Palace, Baroque palace in Hietzing, Vienna, Austria
This residence in Hietzing is a former imperial palace with hundreds of rooms decorated with stucco, ceiling paintings, and ornate furnishings. The spaces show different styles and purposes, from private quarters to grand ceremonial halls.
Emperor Maximilian II bought the floodplain of the Wien river in 1569 and fenced it as a hunting ground; a mill and the Katterburg mansion had stood there since the 14th and 16th centuries. Eleonora Gonzaga added a palace to the mansion between 1638 and 1643, and the name Schönbrunn appears on an invoice of 1642. After Ottoman troops damaged the site in 1683, Leopold I commissioned Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach to build anew from 1695; Maria Theresia had Nikolaus von Pacassi complete the palace from 1743.
The place displays the furniture, dishes, and artworks that surrounded the imperial family in their daily life. You see in the rooms how the Habsburgs lived and what objects mattered to them.
You can walk through selected rooms, though not all are open to visitors. It helps to check information beforehand to know which areas you can visit and how long to plan for.
The Vieux-Laque Room is panelled with lacquered wood from China and framed by portraits in black-and-gold frames, while the Bergl Rooms on the ground floor are covered with landscape paintings of tropical scenes. Both survive from the 18th-century redecoration under Maria Theresa.
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