Imperial Carriage Museum, Carriage and automobile museum in Hietzing, Vienna, Austria

The Imperial Carriage Museum, a department of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, occupies the former Winter Riding School on the grounds of Schönbrunn Palace in Hietzing. Its show halls hold around 60 of the collection's 161 carriages and carrying devices, from gilded state coaches and coronation carriages to sleighs, sedan chairs and the 1914 Gräf & Stift court automobile.

Around 640 vehicles stood in the imperial court stables, today's MuseumsQuartier, at the end of the monarchy. After 1918 some passed to successor states or private buyers, and most went to the Bundes-Fuhrwerksbetrieb. When the Oberststallmeisteramt was dissolved in 1922, 90 vehicles considered worth keeping went to the Kunsthistorisches Museum and were moved to the former Winter Riding School at Schönbrunn.

The name Wagenburg comes from a type of fortification. Court carriages were not reserved for the emperor: dignitaries, servants, court actors and noble boys also had the right to use them, which explains the range from baroque gala coaches to simple transport carts. In 2007 Gloria von Thurn und Taxis lent 17 of her carriages and coaches to the museum.

The museum is located on the Schönbrunn Palace grounds and opens daily to visitors, with multiple sections showing different periods of imperial transportation. The displays are well-organized, allowing for a comfortable walk through the history of these vehicles.

One particularly rare piece is the sole remaining Habsburg court automobile, a 1914 Gräf & Stift, which returned to the collection in 2001 through a permanent loan. This vehicle represents the final phase of imperial transportation before the monarchy's end.