Palais Kaunitz-Wittgenstein, Heritage palace in Laxenburg, Austria.

Palais Kaunitz-Wittgenstein is a three-story Baroque building in Laxenburg with symmetrical wings and detailed stonework on its exterior. Its interior rooms blend Baroque architecture with neoclassical elements in the ceilings and walls.

The building was constructed between 1698 and 1703 for Dominik Andreas I. von Kaunitz and reflects Baroque construction techniques of that period. It changed hands multiple times over the centuries before gaining protected monument status.

The name joins two families: Kaunitz, who built the palace from 1698, and Wittgenstein, who owned it from 1895 and whose member Klara made it her main home from 1910. In the stairwell and banquet hall, frescoes by Joseph Pichler, commissioned by Wenzel Anton Kaunitz after 1775, remain in place.

The building houses an international academy and is typically not freely open to the general public. You can appreciate its exterior and architectural style from outside, and the surrounding park area of Laxenburg is accessible for visitors to explore.

Nikolaus II, Prince Esterházy, bought the palace in 1808 and installed his art collection there, turning it into a museum. The Wittgenstein family acquired it in 1895; Klara Wittgenstein lived there from 1910, and her brother Paul sold it in 1935 to the Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross.