🇦🇹 Schönbrunn Palace

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Schönbrunn Palace

Once located far outside the gates of Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace was swallowed up by the Danube metropolis many years ago. To be more precise, it was incorporated into the District of Hietzing, which was created out of numerous independent suburban communities during the expansion of the city between 1890 and 1892. Legend has it that the name 'Schönbrunn' actually goes back to a saying by the Emperor Kaiser Matthias. While hunting there in 1619, the Kaiser discovered a bubbling spring, and is said to have exclaimed “welch´ schöner Brunn!” - “What a beautiful spring!” - when looking at it. And the rest, as they say, is history.

In the fourteenth century, there were several mills located in the grounds of the palace. One of these was the 'Kattermühle' mill. The owners of the mill and surrounding plot of land changed regularly. When the man later destined to become mayor of Vienna acquired them, he had his residence, the 'Katterburg', built next to the mill. In 1569, both the residence and the land passed into royal ownership, and Kaiser Maximilian had a hunting lodge built on the land in 1570. This was converted and extended in the years that followed, until all the buildings and gardens were razed to the ground during the Second Turkish Siege of the capital in 1683. Four years later, King Leopold I had plans drawn up for a suitably grand new building. Architect Fischer von Erlach had ambitious goals: he wanted to outdo the Palace of Versailles with his designs. Due to a lack of funds, however, he was forced to satisfy himself with construction of a more modest version.

The Palace and its Garden took the shape we see them in today in 1743, during the reign of Maria Theresa, thanks to the efforts of Nikolaus von Pacassi and Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg. The 25.95-metre high and 84.3-metre long Gloriette was built in 1775, a grand conclusion to the construction work in the Garden and at 241 metres above sea level, impossible to miss for miles around.

By deciding to use Schönbrunn as a summer residence, Maria Theresa introduced a practice of the Austrian imperial household which was to endure until 1806. The royal court numbered hundreds of people during this time, all of whom resided at the Palace. Thanks to its huge importance, Schönbrunn soon evolved to become not just the cultural but also the political heart of the Hapsburg Empire.

It wasn't long before the Palace's royal residents weren't satisfied with taking walks in the Garden or enjoying dramatic performances at the Schlosstheater, however. Franz I, Stephan of Lothringen, consort of Maria Theresa, founded a menagerie consisting of 12 enclosures, and by doing so laid the foundations for the oldest Zoological Park still in existence in the world today. The first elephant was transported to Schönbrunn in 1770, followed shortly afterwards by wolves and bears. Visitors had the opportunity to admire the first big cats and polar bears around 1800, and the Viceroy of Egypt gave the Zoo its first giraffe as a gift in 1828. A great deal has been done since this time, of course. The Zoo is home to some 7,800 animals of 700 different species today, and more than 2 million visitors come to see them every year.

Schönbrunn Palace is not just a magnificent example of Baroque architectural art, however, and the Garden is not just an exact realisation by refined garden designers. Some of its mysteries were destined to puzzle researchers of the time, and continue to do so to this day. These include the Obelisk, at the end of the Diagonalallee - to your left as viewed from the Palace - which is graced with golden hieroglyphs. This sits on an artificial rock, soaring some 31 metres skywards. Completed in 1777, the Obelisk is designed to symbolise the stability and permanence of the House of Habsburg. The hieroglyphs, it was believed at the time, would tell the story of the life of Maria Theresa. This was contradicted later on, however, and rightly so, since hieroglyphs were only 'decoded' in 1822. As a result, the hieroglyphs on the Obelisk were believed to be little more than fantasy symbols. That was until 2005, when an Egyptologist established that these actually are Egyptian hieroglyphs. And that they do actually describe the life of Empress Maria Theresa…

Since 1996, Schönbrunn Palace and the 160-hectare Garden surrounding it has been one of twelve UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites in Austria. It is the largest palace in the country, and one of its most important and most-visited cultural highlights. When visiting, you can also take a fascinating look through the Palace's grand interior, as 45 out of a total of 1,441 rooms can be viewed. These include the stately Representation Rooms, the modest Living and Work Rooms of the Kaiser, the Salon of the Kaiserin, Children's Museum, Billiard Room and Guest Rooms. A vast array of royal carriages can also be admired in the Imperial Carriage Museum.

Schlosstheater Schönbrunn, the imperial court theatre, was built in 1745. It was one of the first palace theatres in Europe, and continues to stage performances to this day.

The annual Sommernachtskonzert by the famous Vienna Philharmonic, one of the world's leading orchestras, is also hugely popular. This tradition goes back to 2004, when a 'Concert for Europe' was performed in the open air to mark the occasion of the expansion of the European Union. Since that time, around 100,000 visitors have made their way to the centre of the Garden in the evening twilight every year, to the Großer Parterre, to enjoy the music, with entry free. They are far from the only members of the audience, however; the concerts, led by prominent conductors and with notable soloists such as Jonas Kaufmann, Lang Lang and Anna Netrebko, are broadcast internationally, bringing a little bit of Vienna to all four corners of the world!

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