Schloss Hetzendorf is a baroque palace in Meidling, Vienna that was used by the imperial Habsburg family. The building was originally a hunting lodge. It was refashioned by the architect Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt. Empress Maria Theresa had it enlarged in 1743 by Nicolò Pacassi for her mother, Empress Elizabeth Christine, who lived here from 1743 until her death in 1750. A prominent feature of the palace is the entrance hall.
It was here that Maria Carolina of Austria, Queen of Naples died in 1814. She was the favourite sister of Marie Antoinette.
The youngest daughter of Emperor Francis II, Archduchess Maria Anna, lived here from 1835 until her death in 1858. She is said to have been mentallly retarded and to have suffered from a hideous facial deformity.
It was at Hetzendorf that future Empress Zita gave birth to her daughter, Archduchess Adelheid of Austria, in 1914. Adelheid was the second child of Empress Zita and future Emperor Charles I of Austria.
Today it houses a fashion school.
References:The Gravensteen is a castle in Ghent originating from the Middle Ages. The name means 'castle of the counts' in Dutch. Arnulf I (918–965), Count of Flanders, was the first to fortify this place, building a medieval bastion on this high sand dune, naturally protected by the river Leie and its marshy banks. This bastion consisted of a central wooden building and several surrounding buildings, also in wood.
In the early 11th century, the wooden building was replaced by a stone residence, consisting of three large halls that made up three storeys, connected by a stone stairwell. The monumental stone staircase, the light openings, the fireplaces built into the walls and the latrines were signs of considerable luxury and comfort in those days. There was probably also a tower.