Schönbrunn - the Austrian alternative to Versailles

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Schönbrunn - the Austrian alternative to Versailles

Family legends and architectural and political rivalries

The hunt was unsuccessful, the small supply of water ran out, and even the court astrologer boded ill for the day before: anything that would spoil the mood of a royal person on a dry and hot summer day happened to Emperor Matthias. After hours of wandering through the heat, the emperor noticed a sparkle of water and finally discovered a cool and turbulent spring. «Oh, schöne Brünnen!» - exclaimed the emperor. This is how the name of the world-famous architectural ensemble came from a Habsburg family legend. It was the wife of Emperor Ferdinand, Eleonora Gonzaga, who perpetuated the name in 1569. Like Emperor Matthias, the couple were keen on hunting and decided to build a small house near the spring as a hunting lodge. Eleanor inherited it after her husband's death and gave it the name Schonbrünn, which means 'beautiful spring' in German. As an official name, it first appears in one of the building's financial documents dated 24 January 1642. Mrs. Gonzaga is also known for creating the garden. Under this mistress, Schönbrunn became the venue for various palace entertainments. The garden, called "famose parco di Scheenbrunn", was the venue for numerous theatrical performances in which Emperor Leopold I took part as composer and actor.

Justus Sustermans, 1623-1624, "Eleonora Gonzaga, Empress in Black Dress", Art History Museum collection

During the war with the Turks and their attempts to take Vienna in 1683, the castle was destroyed. The victory over the Turks was a great achievement for the empire, one that significantly changed the balance of power in the political arena and strengthened Austria's position in Europe for decades to come. In order to emphasise the superiority of the victorious Hapsburgs over the Bourbons, it was decided to build a palace as beautiful and rich as Versailles*.

*Château de Versailles is a famous palace and park complex in France. Dating back to the 17th century, Versailles Castle was a hunting lodge, later became a royal residence, and since the 19th century has been one of the largest and most visited museums in the world. It consists of the Petit Trianon and Grand Trianon palaces, a park, gardens and fountains, and covers about 800 hectares (before the Revolution it was about 9000 hectares!). Later, satisfied with the convenient location between his main residence of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Paris, he built a small hunting lodge. The modest building eventually became a manor house, and the architect Le Vaux tripled the size of the palace and richly decorated the interiors and exteriors of Versailles. The luxurious, marble-clad Hermes Room, Bathroom, Marble Court, Hall of Mirrors and other parts of the palace with its enormous garden are an attraction for tourists and lovers of aesthetics.

Interestingly, both palaces were originally hunting residences, and afterwards, as a result of numerous reconstructions, they became centres of political power.

The Habsburgs decided to build a palace in the fashionable baroque style and ordered the Austrian architect Fischer von Erlach, one of the finest masters of his time, to undertake this demanding mission (his famous buildings include the Karlskirche, the Winter Palace of Eugene of Savoy, the Bohemian Court Chancellery, the Hofburg riding school and others). The palace was not, however, financially affordable for the Austrian court. Some people say that Schönbrunn's palace gardens have surpassed those of Versailles.

Maria Theresa, who received Schönbrunn as a gift from her father, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, adored the palace, spent most of her life there and gave birth to many of her sixteen children. She also ruled her empire from here and made the palace the centre of power. She was the one who made the biggest changes to the palace. During her reign the palace was extensively reconstructed, and there was a theatre built in the north wing of the palace. Franz I, Maria Theresa's husband, set up a zoo (which is still running today and is the oldest zoo in the world), as well as numerous greenhouses, hothouses and greenhouses, for which plants were brought from all over the world (mainly from the colonies).

«Portrait of Empress Maria Theresa, sovereign of Austria, Bohemia and Bulgaria», first half of the 18th century

The palace

The interiors of the palace not only served as the residence of the imperial family. They were built for representational purposes and were the venue for countless celebrations and ceremonies designed to symbolise and enhance the prestige of the monarchy. There are 19th century living apartments of Emperor Franz Joseph I and his wife Elisabeth in the west wing of the 1st floor. In the middle section are the representative rooms. The east wing contains the apartments of Maria Theresia and the so-called apartments of Franz Karl (father of Franz Joseph I) and his wife.

The palace has about fifteen hundred rooms; most of them are open to the public. Some of the rooms are now divided into flats for rent.

There is a vast park behind the palace, divided into garden and park areas with many individual buildings. A broad central avenue (700 metres) leads from the palace to the Glorietta, a large pavilion with an enclosed hall in the centre and two open wings flanked by colonnades. The graceful Glorietta is situated on an elevated site, so it looks particularly majestic. There is also the Little Glorietta at the back of the park.

Between the Glorietta and Schönbrunn Palace there is the Neptune Fountain, which consists of a large pool, a sculpture and water jets shooting high up. There are also a number of sculptures and ornaments throughout the park. The Roman ruins and the Labyrinth deserve special attention. The Roman ruins were designed in 1778 by Master Hohenberg and are based on images of the Roman temple of Vespasian and Titus. Amusingly, they were first called the ruins of Carthage. The labyrinth had already been created in the 18th century according to the fashion of the time, and was gradually falling into oblivion and decay. In the 1990s, it was reconstructed in its original form.

Karl Julius Rudolf Moll, Roman Ruins at Schönbrunn (1891)

Historical developments

Schönbrunn was originally intended to be used as a summer residence for Austrian monarchs; over time it became the permanent residence of the Habsburgs. Thus the palace became the venue for many historical events, both regional and worldwide.

Napoleon Bonaparte, for example, visited the palace twice (in 1805 and 1809). Two agreements were signed during his visits, one of which is known as the Peace of Schönbrunn, which put an end to the War of the Fifth Anti-French Coalition that Austria lost in 1809. The chambers in which Napoleon lived were later named after him. In the same palace the young son of Napoleon Bonaparte and Marie-Louise of Austria, Napoleon the Second, King of Rome, died of tuberculosis.

The long-liver Emperor Franz Joseph was born, lived and died in Schönbrunn.

It was at Schönbrunn where the last page of Habsburg reign was completed: in one of the rooms of the palace Charles I signed a document that removed him from the reign of state, and later he was unable to regain the throne. Two days after the document was signed, the First Republic of Austria was declared.

During World War II, Hitler refused to stay in the palace, but the building was damaged during air raids in 1945. After the war, the palace was used by the British occupying forces. The palace suffered considerable damage during the war, but was later reconstructed.

In June 1961, John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev met in Schönbrunn and discussed at the issue of peaceful coexistence between the USA and the USSR.

UNESCO world heritage

Since 1996, Schönbrunn Palace with the park, the fountains, the Glorietta, the Roman ruins and the zoo, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List as a particularly well-preserved example of an imperial Baroque residential complex. The palace and gardens of Schönbrunn are outstanding because they have preserved signs of the changes made over the centuries that brightly illustrate the tastes and interests of the monarchs of the House of Habsburg.