Schönbrunn Palace
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn* | |
|---|---|
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
| Image:Schloß Schönbrunn.jpg | |
| State Party | Image:Flag of Austria.svg Austria |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, iv |
| Reference | 786 |
| Region† | Europe and North America |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1996 (20th Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO. | |
Schönbrunn Palace (German: Schloss Schönbrunn [ʃøːnˈbʁʊn]) in Vienna is one of the most important cultural monuments in Austria and since the 1860s has also been one of the major tourist attractions in Vienna. The palace and gardens illustrate the tastes, interests and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs.
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[edit] Early history
In the year 1569, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II purchased the Katterburg, which was located on a large area between Meidling and Hietzing where today Schönbrunn's parks and different buildings are situated. He showed interest in the newly founded zoo, the Tiergarten Schönbrunn, and tried to establish not only a systematic maintenance of wild animals, but also a garden of rare and exotic plants. He is justifiably called the creator of Schönbrunn's garden arrangement.
The new name, Schönbrunn ("beautiful well"), has its roots in a water well from which water was consumed by the royal court in Vienna. During the next century many members of the royal family of Austria spent their summer vacations and hunting excursions in the Katterburg. In the days of the Turkish sieges the Katterburg was nearly destroyed and it appeared to be impossible to restore the castle.
[edit] Modern palace
Emperor Leopold I gave architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach the order to design a new palace. His first draft was a very utopian one, dealing with different antique and contemporary ideals. His second draft showed a smaller and more realistic building. Construction began 1696 and after three years the first festivities were held in the newly built middle part of the palace.
Not many parts of the first palace survived the next century because every emperor added or altered a bit on the inner and outer parts of the building. By order of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, the architect Nicolò Pacassi reshaped Schönbrunn Palace in a way of the style of the Rococo era. At the end of the so-called Theresianian epoch Schönbrunn Palace was a vigorous centre of Austria's empire and the imperial family.
In the 19th century one name is closely connected with Schönbrunn's, Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria. He spent the majority of his life here and died on November 21, 1916 in his sleeping room. Through the course of his reign, Schönbrunn Palace was seen as a Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art) and remodelled in accordance with its history.
[edit] Gardens of Schönbrunn
The palace complex includes sets of faux Roman ruins and an orangerie, staple luxuries of European palaces of its type. The sculpted garden space between the palace and the Gloriette on top of the hill is called the Great Parterre.
[edit] Sculptures
Lining the Great Parterre are the sculptures in the Schönbrunn Garden. These statues line the Great Parterre at equal distances and are allegories of different gods and virtues.
[edit] Gloriette
In the middle of the garden axis lies a high hill. The hill is crowned by the Gloriette structure. The architect initially planned to erect the whole palace on top of the hill. The Empress Maria Theresa however out of financial reason cancelled those plans and instead chose the budget option at the bottom of the hill. The Gloriette was constructed under her rule to commemorate so-called just wars, which are wars that had to be carried out of necessity. The Gloriette houses a café and gives the visitor a view of the city.
[edit] Roman Ruin
Originally known as the Ruin of Carthage, the Roman Ruin was designed by the architect Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg and erected as an entirely new architectural feature in 1778. Fully integrated into its parkland surroundings, this architectural ensemble should be understood as a picturesque horticultural feature and not simply as a ruin, which due to lack of maintenance it had increasingly grown to resemble prior to its recent restoration.
The fashion for picturesque ruins that became widespread with the rise of the Romantic movement soon after the middle of the 18th century symbolise both the decline of once great powers and the preservation of the remains of a heroic past. Erected at the same time not far from the Roman Ruin, the Obelisk Fountain was intended to complete the iconographic programme of the park at Schönbrunn as a symbol of stability and permanence.
The Roman Ruin consists of a rectangular pool enclosed by a massive arch with lateral walls, evoking the impression of an ancient edifice slowly crumbling into the ground. In the pool in front of the ruin is a seemingly haphazard arrangement of stone fragments supporting a figural group which symbolises the rivers Danube and Enns.
[edit] Recent history
Following the downfall of the monarchy in 1918 the newly founded Austrian Republic became the owner of Schönbrunn Palace and preserved, as a museum, the rooms and chambers.
After WWII and during the Allied Occupation of Austria (1945-1955) Schönbrunn Palace, which was empty at the time, was requisitioned to provide offices for both the British Delegation to the Allied Commission for Austria and for the Headquarters for the small British Military Garrison present in Vienna.
Later it was used for important events such as the meeting between John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev in 1961.
UNESCO catalogued Schönbrunn Palace on the World Cultural Heritage List in 1996, together with its gardens, as a remarkable Baroque ensemble and example of synthesis of the arts (Gesamtkunstwerk)..
A public maze is located in the wide Palace gardens, the entrance fee allows entrance to the maze, as well as to a set of other outdoor puzzles, including a math game and a series of fountains.
[edit] Features in movies
The gardens and palace have been the location for various movies, such as A Breath of Scandal with Sophia Loren and briefly in James Bond's The Living Daylights.
[edit] Gallery
Wien Schoenbrunn Rueckseite.jpg
Schönbrunn Palace, as seen from the gardens |
Vena 11.jpg
The Gloriette at the top of the hill behind the palace |
Schonbrunn gardens.JPG
The gardens and the Gloriette |
Vena 04.jpg
Palm pavilion (orangery) in garden |
Wien.Schönbrunn17.jpg
Obelisk in garden |
[edit] External links
- Official website
- photograph-gallery: Schönbrunn Palace
- Pictures of Schonbrunn Park
- Schönbrunn Palace: My Way of Telling History (.pdf format)
- Orangerie Schönbrunn
- Apartments of Maria Theresia and Schönbrunn Palace
An extract from the book 'My Way of Telling History' by Robert M. Tidmarsh, covering the history of Schönbrunn Palace during its occupation by British troops. Reproduced by kind permission of Robert Tidmarsh and Schloß Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H.
- View on Google Maps - includes a short video.
World Heritage Sites in Austria | |
|---|---|
Cultural Landscape of Fertö / Neusiedlersee (with Hungary) · Graz · Cultural Landscape of Hallstatt-Dachstein Salzkammergut · Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn · Salzburg · Semmering Railway · Vienna · Cultural Landscape of Wachau | |
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