Schloss Hof, Baroque castle and museum in Engelhartstetten, Austria.
Schloss Hof is a Baroque palace in Schloßhof, part of Engelhartstetten in Lower Austria, near the March River. Its pale yellow facade with white pilasters and a red hipped roof rises to a pediment inscribed "FRANCISCUS I. IMP. ET REX APOST. MDCCCXXIV"; below it a stone-balustraded balcony on four columns sits above the arched main entrance. The U-shaped complex, with rows of rectangular windows and small white chimneys, encloses a gravelled courtyard and includes a farmyard with two orangeries and two large stables.
A medieval fortress called Veste Hof stood here until Friedrich von Pranckh moved the family seat to the Hofberg in 1620 and built a Renaissance château. Prince Eugene of Savoy bought it in 1725 and had Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt convert it into a Baroque hunting lodge. Maria Theresa acquired it in 1755, and Franz Anton Hillebrandt gave it its present form between 1773 and 1775.
The name derives from the old settlement "Hoff an der March". Since 2009 the Sommernacht der Marchfelder has brought hundreds of guests to dance in the riding halls, and the baroque animal procession opens the season on 1 May. The Meierhof workshops show turning, pottery, basket-weaving and a schnapps distillery.
The castle is accessible from Vienna by regular trains to Marchegg, with a complimentary shuttle service running to the entrance. Comfortable walking shoes are advisable since the grounds include multiple levels and courtyards to explore on foot.
The Meierhof's two mirror-image orangeries, built in 1729–30, rank among Europe's largest and oldest Baroque structures of their kind. They retain the only preserved subterranean hot-air heating system, which has been put back into operation. The farm also breeds old Austrian livestock, including Nonius horses, Lipizzaners, Noriker, spectacled sheep, camels and some of the world's last Austro-Hungarian white donkeys.
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