Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria top-rated tourist attraction

Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria

Top-Rated Tourist Attraction in Austria

Schönbrunn Palace was the main summer residence of the Habsburg rulers, located in Hitzing, Vienna. The name Schönbrunn (meaning "beautiful spring") has its roots in an artesian well from which the court drew water.

The 1,441-room rococo palace is one of the country's most important architectural, cultural and historical monuments. The history of the palace and its vast gardens spans over 300 years, reflecting the changing tastes, interests and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs. It has been a major tourist attraction since the mid-1950s.

In 1569, the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II purchased a large floodplain of the Uen River under a hill, located between Meidling and Heitzing. The former owner, in 1548, built a palace called Katterburg. The emperor ordered the area to be fenced off and game such as pheasants, ducks, deer and boar kept there, so that it served as a recreational hunting ground for the court. In a small separate part of the area, "exotic" birds such as turkeys and peacocks were kept. Fish ponds have also been constructed.

Garden:

The area of the sculpture garden between the palace and the Neptune Fountain is called the Great Parterre. The French Gardens, a large part of the area, were planned in 1695 by Jean Trehet, a disciple of André Le Nôtre. It contains, among other things, a maze.

The complex, however, has many other attractions: in addition to the Tiergarten, an orangery built around 1755, the main luxury of a European palace of its kind, a palm house (replacing, by 1882, about ten earlier and smaller glass houses in the western part of the garden. ) are noteworthy. In 1828-1852 the western sections were made in the English garden style.

Activities at Schönbrunn:

Schönbrunn is Vienna's most popular tourist destination, with 3,800,000 visitors in 2017. The entire Schönbrunn complex, including Tiergarten Schönbrunn, Palmenhaus, Wüstenhaus, the Wagenburg, and The Schoenbrunn Palace Concerts, had more than five million visitors in 2009. Advance tickets for the tour can be purchased on the official website. In addition to tours and tour packages, many classical concerts featuring the music of Mozart and his contemporaries can be enjoyed with the added benefit of more time in the Spectacular Hall, Orangei or Schlosstheater.

Gallery

Panorama of Schönbrunn main facade

Panorama of Schönbrunn from the Gloriette, with Vienna in background

Panorama of the entrance court

A garden pavilion, Kammergarten pavilion

Cafe Gloriette Schönbrunn

The Roman Ruin.

View from Great Parterre towards the Gloriette
(app. towards South).

View of the gardens

View of the gardens in autumn

Orangery, in NE part of the gardens.

Columbary

Palm pavilion in western part of the gardens

The Palm House

Sundial House

Privy garden in winter

Schönbrunn seen through Neptune Fountain

Schönbrunn

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