Schönbrunn Palace

Schönbrunn Palace

Attraction Introduction

The summer retreat palace of the Austrian Habsburgs, also known as "Schönbrunn Palace," is located in the southwest of the capital, Vienna.

Schönbrunn Palace gets its name from a spring, which was originally an open green space. Once, Emperor Matthias went hunting here and drank from a spring, feeling refreshed, and called it the "beautiful spring." More than 70 years later, in 1743, Empress Maria Theresa ordered a palace to be built here, and thus emerged a magnificent palace and Baroque-style gardens. Covering an area of 26,000 square meters, it is second only to the Palace of Versailles in France.

The palace has 1,400 rooms, entered from the central hall. Forty-four of them are in the Rococo style (a delicate and ornate architectural style popular in 18th-century Europe), elegant and charming, but most are in the Baroque style (an excessively ornamental architectural style popular in 17th-century Europe). The palace also features specifically Eastern classical-style buildings, such as a Chinese-style room inlaid with rosewood, ebony, and ivory, and a Japanese-style room decorated with gold leaf and lacquer. The interior decorations of the rooms are also unified in an Eastern style, with walls and ceilings inlaid with ceramics. Among the many ceramic displays are Chinese celadon, large polychrome porcelain plates from the Ming Dynasty's Wanli era, and flower-patterned vases.

The palace houses dining halls where the Habsburg emperors held grand banquets and magnificent ballrooms. It also displays several gilded carriages used during the coronation ceremony of Empress Maria Theresa. Theresa was a highly accomplished empress in Austrian history, and her famous motto was "I prefer the calm of mediocrity to the glory of war." The palace corridors are hung with portraits of the Habsburg monarchs throughout the dynasties, historical narrative paintings, and portraits of the 16 children born to Empress Maria Theresa. Among them, the most eye-catching is the portrait of Marie Antoinette in her youth, who later became the queen of King Louis XVI of France. The delicate and refined brushwork vividly captures the splendor and luxury of the royal court at that time.

Queen Marie grew up by this window and was executed by guillotine alongside Louis XVI during the French Revolution. Various styles of stoves are installed in the rooms and at the corners of the corridors, among which the large Russian-style stove is particularly unique in design. Behind the palace lies a grand Baroque garden. Napoleon stayed in the palace twice during his two occupations of Vienna. The famous composer Mozart also performed piano for the empress on the elegant court stage during his childhood. One of the most famous events associated with the palace was the Congress of Vienna, held from September 1814 to June 1815 after Napoleon’s defeat, where Europe was divided. At that time, Austrian Chancellor Metternich gained prominence for his skillful diplomacy, manipulating the balance of power among the European powers.

Vienna, Austria