Schloss Hof

Schloßhof, Austria

Schloss Hof is a palace located in Austria near the border of Slovakia. At more than 50 hectares, Schloss Hof is the largest country castle complex in Austria.

It once belonged to Prince Eugene of Savoy who purchased it late in his life in 1726, He had it enlarged in the Baroque style by the architect Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt in 1729, and used it as an elaborate hunting lodge. He left it to a niece in his will, and it was later purchased by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and became part of the imperial estates.

Outside, there are magnificent Baroque gardens with splendid fountains and sculptures on seven terraces stepping gentle down to the March. The imperial castle sits on an idyllic estate containing nine exciting adventure walks, varied themed gardens and lots of rare breed pets, as well as an adventure playground and a leisure park for children and families with its own water playground.

With its exhibitions and numerous events for the whole family, Schloss Hof is always worth a visit. Annual highlights of the event calendar include the Easter market, the games festival, the musketeer games, the garden shows, the Pentecost fair, the camel festival, the full moon nights, the holiday fun, the horse festival and the atmospheric Christmas village in advent.

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Schloss Hof 1, Schloßhof, Austria
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Details

Founded: 1729
Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Austria

More Information

www.schlosshof.at
en.wikipedia.org
www.wien.info

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Devín Castle (5,4 km)


Bratislava Old Town (14,9 km)
Bratislava City Museum (14,9 km)
Bratislava Castle (14,5 km)
St. Martin's Cathedral (14,8 km)
Mosonmagyaróvár Castle (44,7 km)
Vienna Central Cemetery (37,7 km)
Grassalkovich Palace (14,5 km)
Schloss Esterházy (51,3 km)
Carnuntum (12,5 km)

User Reviews

J “Pipiripi” P (3 months ago)
The castle must be beautiful. I say "must" because we didnt go inside. We live in Vienna. A walk for 2 adults and 2 kids costs more than 50 Euros. Seriously. I would pay that money for visiting the palace itself. Walking around the palace shouldn't cost more than 3 euros. Abusive price and a waste of heritage as few people pay for it.
Katarzyna Wrona (3 months ago)
Beautiful place, amazingly restored always with carefully prepared seasonal decorations. Their gardener team must be led by a magician. Loooove the flower and herbs gardens. Fantastic place for families with kids - lots of animals to watch, petting zoo, great playground.
Kimball Beard (4 months ago)
Noble history, reserrected from the cold war, restored to Prince Eugene's vision. Well maintained both interior and the exterior of the palace and wonderful gardens. The domestic animals and children's play ground is more than adequate. The high quality of ridding and breading horses are priceles in their quality and health. The restaurant is very good for Vienna Coffee and Cakes, but the main dishes lack taste and flavor. I would recommend a seperate cafe from the restaurant.
Marius Zaharia (5 months ago)
Great place to spend half a day. You can combine history with some family activities (petting zoo), riding or just relax with a drink or two. Very beautiful gardens.
Evula Jónásová (5 months ago)
Beatiful plače, garden every
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Quimper Cathedral

From 1239, Raynaud, the Bishop of Quimper, decided on the building of a new chancel destined to replace that of the Romanesque era. He therefore started, in the far west, the construction of a great Gothic cathedral which would inspire cathedral reconstructions in the Ile de France and would in turn become a place of experimentation from where would later appear ideas adopted by the whole of lower Brittany. The date of 1239 marks the Bishop’s decision and does not imply an immediate start to construction. Observation of the pillar profiles, their bases, the canopies, the fitting of the ribbed vaults of the ambulatory or the alignment of the bays leads us to believe, however, that the construction was spread out over time.

The four circular pillars mark the start of the building site, but the four following adopt a lozenge-shaped layout which could indicate a change of project manager. The clumsiness of the vaulted archways of the north ambulatory, the start of the ribbed vaults at the height of the south ambulatory or the choice of the vaults descending in spoke-form from the semi-circle which allows the connection of the axis chapel to the choir – despite the manifest problems of alignment – conveys the hesitancy and diverse influences in the first phase of works which spread out until the start of the 14th century.

At the same time as this facade was built (to which were added the north and south gates) the building of the nave started in the east and would finish by 1460. The nave is made up of six bays with one at the level of the facade towers and flanked by double aisles – one wide and one narrow (split into side chapels) – in an extension of the choir arrangements.

The choir presents four right-hand bays with ambulatory and side chapels. It is extended towards the east of 3-sided chevet which opens onto a semi-circle composed of five chapels and an apsidal chapel of two bays and a flat chevet consecrated to Our Lady.

The three-level elevation with arches, triforium and galleries seems more uniform and expresses anglo-Norman influence in the thickness of the walls (Norman passageway at the gallery level) or the decorative style (heavy mouldings, decorative frieze under the triforium). This building site would have to have been overseen in one shot. Undoubtedly interrupted by the war of Succession (1341-1364) it draws to a close with the building of the lierne vaults (1410) and the fitting of stained-glass windows. Bishop Bertrand de Rosmadec and Duke Jean V, whose coat of arms would decorate these vaults, finished the chancel before starting on the building of the facade and the nave.

Isolated from its environment in the 19th century, the cathedral was – on the contrary – originally very linked to its surroundings. Its site and the orientation of the facade determined traffic flow in the town. Its positioning close to the south walls resulted in particuliarities such as the transfer of the side gates on to the north and south facades of the towers: the southern portal of Saint Catherine served the bishop’s gate and the hospital located on the left bank (the current Préfecture) and the north gate was the baptismal porch – a true parish porch with its benches and alcoves for the Apostles’ statues turned towards the town, completed by an ossuary (1514).

The west porch finds its natural place between the two towers. The entire aesthetic of these three gates springs from the Flamboyant era: trefoil, curly kale, finials, large gables which cut into the mouldings and balustrades. Pinnacles and recesses embellish the buttresses whilst an entire bestiary appears: monsters, dogs, mysterious figures, gargoyles, and with them a whole imaginary world promoting a religious and political programme. Even though most of the saints statues have disappeared an armorial survives which makes the doors of the cathedral one of the most beautiful heraldic pages imaginable: ducal ermine, the Montfort lion, Duchess Jeanne of France’s coat of arms side by side with the arms of the Cornouaille barons with their helmets and crests. One can imagine the impact of this sculpted decor with the colour and gilding which originally completed it.

At the start of the 16th century the construction of the spires was being prepared when building was interrupted, undoubtedly for financial reasons. Small conical roofs were therefore placed on top of the towers. The following centuries were essentially devoted to putting furnishings in place (funeral monuments, altars, statues, organs, pulpit). Note the fire which destroyed the spire of the transept cross in 1620 as well as the ransacking of the cathedral in 1793 when nearly all the furnishings disappeared in a « bonfire of the saints ».

The 19th century would therefore inherit an almost finished but mutilated building and would devote itself to its renovation according to the tastes and theories of the day.

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