Schloss Schönborn, Baroque palace in Göllersdorf, Austria.
Schloss Schönborn is a Baroque three-wing complex built by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt from 1712 to 1717 for Friedrich Carl von Schönborn. The front block has a pale yellow facade, a red-brown hipped roof and a clock tower with a green copper dome; lower wings enclose a courtyard, and a taller cream section faces the inner court. The estate includes an orangery, a chapel and a park of about 104 hectares.
Melchior Friedrich von Schönborn bought the Göllersdorf, Mühlberg and Aspersdorf estates in 1710 through his son Friedrich Carl, then Imperial Vice-Chancellor in Vienna. From 1711/1712 to 1717/1718 Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt rebuilt the medieval Mühlburg on the site as a summer residence, with Maximilian von Welsch handling the water works. The old castle was cleared and later became the Göllersdorf correctional facility.
The name Schönborn-Buchheim comes from the 1710 purchase: the seller, the last Count of Puchheim, called himself Puchheim-Schönborn, the buyers Schönborn-Puchheim. Friedrich Carl held court here as a private nobleman, not as imperial vice-chancellor, and the estate also served as a hunting seat with a pheasantry. Between the wars the grounds hosted car races.
The grounds are easy to explore on foot, with both formal garden areas and open lawns for walking around. Comfortable shoes are helpful since the gardens cover considerable space and involve quite a bit of walking.
Parts of the medieval Mühlburg fortress walls still remain visible within the current structure. These older walls were deliberately kept and incorporated during the new palace construction, showing how the family linked their new building to the location's longer past.
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