Schönbrunn Palace

Vienna, Austria

Schönbrunn Palace is a former imperial summer residence located in Vienna. The 1,441-room Baroque palace is one of the most important architectural, cultural, and historical monuments in the country. The history of the palace and its vast gardens spans over 300 years, reflecting the changing tastes, interests, and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs.

The site of the Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn is outstanding as one of the most impressive and well preserved Baroque ensembles of its kind in Europe. Additionally, it is a potent material symbol of the power and influence of the House of Habsburg over a long period of European history, from the end of the 17th to the early 20th century.

It is impossible to separate the gardens from the palace, of which they form an organic extension: this is an excellent example of the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, a masterly fusion of many art forms.

A small hunting lodge and later summer residence of the Habsburg family was rebuilt after total destruction during the last Turkish attack in 1683. During construction work the project was expanded into an Imperial summer residence of the court. As such it represents the ascent and the splendour of the Habsburg Empire. At the peak of Habsburg power at the beginning of the 18th century, when imperial Vienna following the Turkish reflected its regained significance in spectacular examples of newly developing Baroque art, Schönbrunn was one of the most important building projects of the capital and residency.

The ample Baroque gardens with their buildings (Gloriette, Roman ruins etc.) and statuary testify to the palace's imperial dimensions and functions. The original intention, when they were laid out in the 18th century, was to combine the glorification of the House of Habsburg with a homage to nature. The Orangery on the east side of the main palace building is, at 186 m, the longest in the world. The Great Palm House is an impressive iron-framed structure, 114 m long and divided into three Sections, erected in 1880 using technology developed in England.

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Address

Meidlinger Fahrstraße, Vienna, Austria
See all sites in Vienna

Details

Founded: 1740
Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Austria

More Information

www.schoenbrunn.at
en.wikipedia.org
whc.unesco.org

Rating

4.7/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


St. Stephen's Cathedral (5,2 km)
Hofburg Palace (4,7 km)
Museumsquartier (4 km)
Kunsthistorisches Museum (4,2 km)
Augustinian Church (4,7 km)
Albertina (4,7 km)
St. Peter's Church (5 km)
Minoritenkirche (4,7 km)
Capuchin Church and Imperial Crypt (4,8 km)


Vienna Central Cemetery (10,1 km)
Klosterneuburg Abbey (13,6 km)
Schloss Esterházy (40,7 km)
Heiligenkreuz Abbey (19,8 km)
Forchtenstein Castle (52,9 km)
Perchtoldsdorf Castle (8,1 km)
Eisenstadt Cathedral (41 km)
Neugebäude Palace (10,1 km)
Blauer Hof (13,5 km)

User Reviews

Julie Go (2 years ago)
It is way more beautiful and bigger than I could imagine!!! The gardens, the alleys, the view of the whole city!!! Wow. Breathtaking. Plan to have at least 2-3 hours to explore outside. There’s a cute coffee shop at the other side of the palace alley for a quick snack.
Kris Krmpotich (2 years ago)
Loved it. Beautiful palace. Tons of rich history. Our tour was very interesting and educational. We went in July and really enjoyed it. I highly recommend this if you are in Vienna.
Sushma Roy (2 years ago)
The place is worth visiting in Vienna. Great example of Austrian opulence and lifestyle of Rulers. The audio tour of the palace is good to understand the details. The park behind the palace is open for public and the garden on the top gives a magnificent view of Vienna city.
Gomathy Natarajan (2 years ago)
Architectural stunner. Best time to visit would be summer and spring when the lawns are laid out with flower gardens. The place is over crowded with tourists and the ticket counter is always heavily queued up. Reachable by train from the city centre.
Lucia Malá (2 years ago)
I loved this place so much. Even though it was a bit crowded at the time of our visit, we didn’t seem to care because the palace was just so beautiful. And it’s not just the palace itself but its sourroundings that make it even more special. You could definitely tell that it’s being well taken care of, the gardens and the whole area around the palace were very clean and organized.
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Palazzo Colonna

The Palazzo Colonna is a palatial block of buildings built in part over ruins of an old Roman Serapeum, and has belonged to the prestigious Colonna family for over twenty generations.

The first part of the palace dates from the 13th century, and tradition holds that the building hosted Dante in his visit to Rome. The first documentary mention notes that the property hosted Cardinal Giovanni and Giacomo Colonna in the 13th century. It was also home to Cardinal Oddone Colonna before he ascended to the papacy as Martin V (1417–1431).

With his passing, the palace was sacked during feuds, and the main property passed into the hands of the Della Rovere family. It returned to the Colonna family when Marcantonio I Colonna married Lucrezia Gara Franciotti Della Rovere, the niece of pope Julius II. The Colonna"s alliance to the Habsburg power, likely protected the palace from looting during the Sack of Rome (1527).

Starting with Filippo Colonna (1578–1639) many changes have refurbished and create a unitary complex around a central garden. Architects including Girolamo Rainaldi and Paolo Marucelli labored on specific projects. Only in the 17th and 18th centuries were the main facades completed. Much of this design was completed by Antonio del Grande (including the grand gallery), and Girolamo Fontana (decoration of gallery). In the 18th century, the long low facade designed by Nicola Michetti with later additions by Paolo Posi with taller corner blocks (facing Piazza Apostoli) was constructed recalls earlier structures resembling a fortification.

The main gallery (completed 1703) and the masterful Colonna art collection was acquired after 1650 by both the cardinal Girolamo I Colonna and his nephew the Connestabile Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna and includes works by Lorenzo Monaco, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Palma the Elder, Salviati, Bronzino, Tintoretto, Pietro da Cortona, Annibale Carracci (painting of The Beaneater), Guercino, Francesco Albani, Muziano and Guido Reni. Ceiling frescoes by Filippo Gherardi, Giovanni Coli, Sebastiano Ricci, and Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari celebrate the role of Marcantonio II Colonna in the battle of Lepanto (1571). The gallery is open to the public on Saturday mornings.

The older wing of the complex known as the Princess Isabelle"s apartments, but once housing Martin V"s library and palace, contains frescoes by Pinturicchio, Antonio Tempesta, Crescenzio Onofri, Giacinto Gimignani, and Carlo Cesi. It contains a collection of landscapes and genre scenes by painters like Gaspard Dughet, Caspar Van Wittel (Vanvitelli), and Jan Brueghel the Elder.

Along with the possessions of the Doria-Pamphilij and Pallavacini-Rospigliosi families, this is one of the largest private art collections in Rome.

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