Hofburg Palace (Vienna, Austria)

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Hofburg Palace Complex

The popular Hofburg, the extensive former imperial palace complex of the Habsburg dynasty rulers, was the political centre of the monarchy and was their principal imperial winter residence for over 600 years, as Schönbrunn Palace was their summer residence.  Previously, the castle of the Austrian rulers had been located on the Am Hof, a square near the Schottenstift (Scottish Monastery).

Check out “Schonbrunn Palace and Gardens”

Since 1279, the Hofburg was the documented seat of government for various empires and republics,  housing some of the most powerful people in European and Austrian history including kings and emperors of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (from 1438 to 1583 and from 1612 to 1806) and, thereafter, the seat of the Emperor of Austria of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918. Today, part of it forms the official residence and workplace of the Austrian Federal President.

Originally a fortified Medieval castle built in the 13th century, the Hofburg area has, over the centuries, been expanded by each emperor to include various residences (with the Amalienburg), the Imperial Chapel (Hofkapelle or Burgkapelle), the Naturhistorisches Museum (Natural History Museum) and Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Austrian National Library (Hofbibliothek), the Imperial Treasury (Schatzkammer), the Burgtheater, the Spanish Riding School (Hofreitschule), the Imperial Horse Stables (Stallburg and Hofstallungen), and the Hofburg Congress Center.

Check out “Kunsthistorisches Museum,” “Imperial Treasury” and “Natural History Museum”

This sprawling, asymmetric complex extends over 240,000 sq.m., consists of 18 wings, 19 courtyards and 2,600 rooms in which nearly 5,000 people still work and live today.

The Hofburg faces Heroes Square (Heldenplatz), ordered built under the reign of Emperor Francis Joseph, as part of what was to become an Imperial Forum (Kaiserforum), a two-winged structure reaching beyond the Ringstraße that was never completed. Standing at the foci of Heroes Square are the equestrian statues of Prince Eugene of Savoy and Archduke Charles, the two most important Austrian field marshals.

The statue of Archduke Charles

The Alte Burg (Old Fortress), the  oldest part of the Hofburg has, since the 18th century, been called the Schweizertrakt (Swiss Wing) after the Swiss Guards who served as the palace watch. Over the centuries, the palace underwent alterations and, thought the core of the Medieval fortress complex has been preserved, its four corner towers, most of the moat and the drawbridge had to make way for that.

The Swiss Court (Schweizerhof), built during the reign of Emperor Ferdinand I in the style of the Renaissance, corresponds somewhat to a square formed around the oldest sections of the castle which originate from the 13th century and were primarily constructed by the last of the Babenbergers or by Ottakar II of Bohemia. The lower section of this wing once accommodated the imperial kitchen.

Grace and the author at the Imperial Treasury (Schatzkammer)

Situated here are the Burgkapelle (the Vienna Boys’ Choir still sings on Sundays at High Mass), a Gothic chapel built in 1449; the Schatzkammer, the Imperial Treasury which holds, among other objects, the Imperial Insignia of the Holy Roman Empire (Reichskleinodien) and that of the Empire of Austria); and the Hofmusikkapelle (the Imperial Music Chapel).

Cheska and Kyle entering the Swiss Gate

Its famous Schweizertor, the red-black Swiss Gate, is the main motif in the silver 20 euro Renaissance commemorative coin.  The gate, designed by Pietro Ferabosco, is one of only a handful of Renaissance monuments in Vienna. It displays the many titles of Emperor Ferdinand I and the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece. It is flanked by two soldiers in period attire, a reminder of the unsettled times which saw Vienna besieged by Turkish armies in 1529, as well as the struggles between Protestants and Catholics during the Reformation.

The many titles of Emperor Ferdinand I and the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece at the Swiss Gate.

The formerly free-standing Amalienburg (Amalia Residence) wing, across from the Swiss Gate, was named after Empress Amalie Wilhelmine, who used it as her dower residence after the death of husband, Emperor Joseph I.

Grace and Vicky at Amalienburg

Constructed during the 16th century, in the style of the late Renaissance, as the Viennese residence of Emperor Rudolph II, it had already been in use for more than a century. Its last occupant was Empress Elisabeth, whose apartments are today open to the public. The small domed tower has an astronomical clock on its façade.

Astronomical Clock Tower at Amalienburg

The early Baroque Leopoldine Wing (the Leopoldischiner Trakt), connecting the Amalienburg with the Swiss Court, was designed by Italian architect-engineer Filiberto Luchese and built between 1668 and 1680 under Emperor Leopold I. After the Siege of 1683 by the Turks, the Leopold Wing was rebuilt by Giovanni Pietro Tencala with an additional floor installed.

The Leopoldine Wing

During the 18th century, it was occupied by Empress Maria Theresa and, after her death, its magnificent apartments were used as state rooms until the end of the monarchy. The architecture of this wing still bears a connection to the late Renaissance. Since 1946, this wing houses the offices of the Federal President. As well as that of the Amalienburg, the lower section of this wing served as the enormous wine cellar for the Hofburg.

Plaque at the Leopoldine Wing

The Imperial Stables (Stallburg), although not physically connected to the rest of the Hofburg complex, was started in 1559 and were originally built as a residence for Maximilian II, the son of Ferdinand I and the then crown prince. Later, this structure accommodated the art collection (which formed the core of the later Kunsthistorisches Museum from 1889) of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, the art-inclined brother of Emperor Ferdinand III. The first Austrian parliament sat here in 1848. Only later was it used to house the imperial horses. Today, it is still used by the Spanish Riding School (Spanische Hofreitschule). The famous Lipizzan stallions, can be seen here daily (except on Mondays), at their morning training.

The Winter Riding School (Winterreitschule), where you can watch performances of Lipizzan stallions, is located across from the Stallburg and was also designed by the Baroque architects Lukas von Hildebrandt and Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach.

Imperial Chancellery Wing (Reichskanzleitrakt)

The Imperial Chancellery Wing Reichskanzleitrakt, across from the Leopold Wing, was originally planned by Baroque architect Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt and completed in 1730.  It accommodated the Aulic Council (Reichshofrat), the offices of the Imperial Vice Chancellor (Reichsvizekanzler).  After the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, this wing housed the apartments of the Duke of Reichstadt (Napoleon II) and, from the middle of the 19th century, those of Emperor Francis Joseph I.

Attika with Shield of Kaiser Karl VI

On the Chancellery portals are sculptures, representing the Labors of Hercules, by Lorenzo Mattielli. The Kaisertor (Emperor’s Gate), at the central section, gives access to the imperial apartments. The imposing armorial shield of Emperor Charles VI with the double eagle bearing the Austrian shield in the colors of red, white and red and surmounted by the imperial crown, rises from the edge of the roof.

The originally free-standing Imperial Library (Hofbibliothek), housed on the other side of the complex, was founded by Charles VI.  Now called the Prunksaal, it now houses the Austrian National Library (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek). Its construction was begun by Baroque court architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and, after Johann’s death in 1723, finished in 1735 by his son Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach.  This magnificent hall, the most significant part of the Hofburg in artistic terms, contains the precious book collection of Prince Eugene, an enormous ceiling fresco by Daniel Gran, and statues of emperors by Paul Strudel.

The exterior, decorated with Attika figures, was executed, in 1726, by Lorenzo Mattielli who placed a statue of Pallas Athene, riding on a quadriga, above the main entrance. He also situated Atlas, supporting the celestial globe and flanked by Astronomy and Astrology, on the left portion of the roof and, on the opposite side, Gaia with the terrestrial globe, flanked by allegories of Geometry and Geography.

The present Joseph Square (Josephsplatz), one of the most beautiful locations in Vienna, was created when, from 1763 to 1769, Nicolo Pacassi connected the Imperial Library to the other parts of the Hofburg and its other side to St. Augustine’s Church (Augustinerkirche).  At the center of Joseph Square is the equestrian statue of Emperor Joseph II by Franz Anton von Zauner.

On the southeast side of Joseph Square, adjacent to the Imperial Library, is the Baroque Augustinian Wing, so identified for its proximity to the Augustinian Church and Monastery.  The Augustinian Church (Augustinerkirche), used by the Habsburgs as their court church and also for weddings, was where Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth, alias Sisi, were married.

As the Hofburg Palace expanded, the wing became part of it. Because of its structural connections to the Augustinian Monastery, the Archduke Albrecht Palace (formerly Tarouca-de Sylva Palace), home of the Albertina Museum, is also considered part of the Hofburg Palace after the renovation of the Albertina in the 1820s by Joseph Kornhäusel. In early years of the 19th century, Archduke Albrecht and, later, his nephew, Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen, both members of the Habsburg Family, lived in the building.

The Hearts’ Crypt, behind the Loreto side chapel, is a semicircular-shaped annex, separated by an iron door, where 54 hearts of House of Habsburg members are kept in silver urns.

The magnificent  Zeremoniensaal (Ceremonial Hall), built for Emperor Franz II/I by the Belgian architect Louis Montoyer at the beginning of the 19th century, was nicknamed as the “Nose of the Hofburg,” derived from the fact that it, for almost a hundred years, formed a clearly visible protrusion at right angles to the Leopold Wing.

Neue Burg

Having a truly imperial aspect, the Zeremoniensaal, fully integrated into the New Castle (Neue Burg), has an ornate coffered ceiling, 26 crystal chandeliers (which once held 1,300 candles) and 24 Corinthian columns with an artificial marble finish (the surface is not real stone but a form of painted gypsum known as stucco lustro).

Check out “Neue Burg”

During an exclusive Ball at the Court held here, Napoleon I asked for the hand of Marie Louise, the daughter of Emperor Franz II/I and, during a traditional Maundy Thursday ceremony, Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth invited twelve poor old men and women to have their feet washed.

The St. Michael’s Wing, originally planned by Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach, was built from 1889 to 1893, utilizing a slightly altered plan of Ferdinand Kirschner. It serves as the connection between the Winter Riding School and the Imperial Chancellery Wing.

The Redoutensaele (derived from the French word “wikt:redoute” meaning an elegant masked ball), a 17th-century opera house converted into the beautiful dance and concert halls by Maria Theresia, became the setting for a cultivated style of entertainment. Its original plans were drawn up by Jean Nicolas Jadot de Ville-Issey (de), while the external facades are the work of Nicolò Pacassi and Franz Anton Hillebrandt (de).

Johann Strauss served as musical director to the court for the balls held at the Redoutensaele, and the audience was treated to music by Joseph Haydn, Nicolo Paganini and Franz Liszt and, in 1814, the premiere of Beethoven‘s 8th Symphony took place there. Over the centuries, in line with changing tastes, various modifications have been made in the balls. On November 27, 1992 the whole wing with the Redoutensaele was seriously damaged by fire and the reconstruction and faithful restoration work performed lasted five years. The Redoutensaele reopened in 1998 and, since then, became part of the Hofburg Congress Center.

Fiaker  (Horse-Drawn Carriage) inside the Hofburg

Hofburg Palace: Michaelerplatz 1 (Michaelerkuppel), 1010 Vienna, Austria. Tel: +43 1 5337570. Open 9 AM-6 PM.

How to Get There:

Underground: U3 Herrengasse

Tram: 1, 2, 71, D Burgring

Bus: 2A, 3A Hofburg

HOP ON HOP OFF: Red Line: Kunsthistorisches Museum / Heldenplatz

Kunsthistorisches Museum – Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities (Vienna, Austria)

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Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities

From the Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection, a change of flooring and presentation, gave way to the delights of Ancient Greece and Rome with my entry into Gallery 10 and its Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities.

The 2,500 objects in the collection, some on permanent display, span a period of more than three millennia and range from Bronze Age ceramics of Cyprus dating from the 3rd millennium B.C. to early Medieval finds.

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This collection, one of the best of its kind, covers three main areas in a beautifully atmospheric gallery layout – the unique and spectacular antique cameos and gemstones; the treasure troves dating from the period of the great migrations and the early Middle Ages (such as the golden Treasure of Nagy Szent Miklós); and the collection of vases (with such masterpieces as the Brygos Cup).

Votive Statue of a Man from Cyprus

Among the other highlights of the collection are the larger-than-life Votive Statue of a Man from Cyprus, the Amazonian Sarcophagus, the bronze tablet with the famous Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus, the Theseus Mosaic from Salzburg and the Youth from the Magdalensberg, to name only a few.

Sarcophagus with Fighting Amazons

Sarcophagus of the Muses

Sarcophagus with a Scene of Abduction of Persephone by Hades

However, though a lot of thought has been clearly put by the curators into how the items were displayed in this collection, surprisingly there was little English information for such wonderful displays and we needed an guidebook or an audio guide to really appreciate what we’re seeing.

Youth from the Magdalensberg

At Gallery 11, we saw a huge original mosaic in the floor. Taken from a 4th century villa near Salzburg, it tells one of the versions of the story of Ariadne and Theseus (of Minotaur-slaying fame).

Marble Statue of Discobolus (2nd century AD)

Torso of the Javelin Bearer Doryphoros (2nd Century AD)

As we walked toward the entrance portal of Gallery 13, we were welcomed by a statue of a majestic Emperor Vespasian, his head is from 70 A.D. and his torso from sometime in the first century.

Gallery 13 (Busts)

This bust gallery, possessing an eerie quality enhanced by the subtle and varied lighting and shadows cast on the marbled floor, has a delightful display of busts, each on its own high column. We also saw mummy portraits placed on mummies in Rome-influenced Egypt in the second century AD.

Gallery 14 (Greek Vases)

Gallery 14 features real Greek vases and other ceramics (not the kind from souvenir shops in Athens and Kos).  The “Kabinetts,” leading off the rooms, each focus on a special topic such as Cypriot ceramics from the Bronze and Iron Ages, Etruscan Art, etc..

Gallery 14 (Greek Vases)

The magically dark Gallery 15 features bronze statues of the gods and other figures of mythology, each piece lit with pools of light that makes a dramatic impression, plus Roman tableware, jewelry, decorated oil lamps and fibulae (brooches for fastening clothing).

Marble Sphinx from Roman Egypt (150 – 200 AD)

The darkly lit Gallery 16, with wall cabinets and spotlights, features brightly-colored miniature reliefs (cameos) and engraved gems from Rome which were used as signet rings, pendants and other adornments. The room also features the famous Gemma Augustea, a large cut onyx stone, from 9-12 A.D., honoring the Emperor Augustus.

Spot-lit cabinets at Gallery 17 house a wide range of Roman and early Germanic jewelry and other items of bronze, silver and gold coming from various finds, such as Nagy Szent Miklós (in modern-day Romania) or Zalesie (modern-day Poland).

Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities: Raised Ground Floor, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Maria Theresien-Platz, 1010 Vienna. Tel: +43 1 525 24- 4902. E-mail: info.ansa@khm. Open Tuesdays – Sundays, 10 AM – 6 PM, Thursdays, 10 AM – 9 PM.

Kunsthistorisches Museum – Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection (Vienna, Austria)

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Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection

The Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, among the world’s most important collections of Egyptian antiquities, is located in Galleries 1 to 9 and consists of  more than 17,000 objects that date from a period of almost four thousand years, from the Egyptian Pre-Dynastic and Early Dynastic periods (ca. 3500 – 4000 BC) to the early Christian era. Geographically, their origins range from Egypt, Nubia, the eastern Mediterranean and Mesopotamia to the Arabian Peninsula.

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A pair of Egyptian monolithic columns at Gallery 1

In the early 19th century, avid interest in collecting Egyptian antiquities began in Europe and there was an emancipation of the genre when Napoleon invaded Egypt (1798-1799), resulting in unparalleled esteem for Egyptian culture. The focus of the Near Eastern Collection is on artifacts from the ancient culture of southern Arabia.

Display of Egyptian sarcophagi

Among its highlights are the richly decorated Offering Chapel of Ka-ni-nisut from the Old Kingdom, numerous sarcophagi and coffins, animal mummies, examples of the Book of the Dead, grave stelae, divine figures, objects of daily life (clothing, cosmetic articles, etc.), masterpieces of sculpture (Reserve Head from Giza, etc.), facial stelae from southern Arabia and a depiction of a lion from the Ischtar Gate in Babylon.

Here is the turbulent historical timeline of the collection:

  • Around 1560, an emissary of the Austrian imperial family purchased, in Constantinople, the kneeling figure of Gem-nef-hor-bak, thus laying the foundation for a collection of Aegyptiaca.
  • In the 18th century, the few Egyptian antiquities already in Habsburg possession were held in the coin collection and cabinet of antiquities.
  • In 1821, physician Ernst August Burghart considerably expanded the holdings of Egyptian artifacts by purchasing objects in Egypt.
  • At mid- 18th century, Anton Ritter von Laurin, Austrian general consul in Alexandria from 1824 to 1849, received significant gifts of Egyptian antiquities. He is also credited for the discovery of the magnificent stone sarcophagus of Nes-shu-tefnut.
  • In 1869, three original Egyptian monolithic columns excavated in Alexandria were given as a gift to Emperor Franz Joseph I.
  • In 1881, Crown Prince Rudolf, the son of Emperor Franz Joseph, acquired numerous Egyptian artifacts during his travels to Egypt.
  • Several years later, the collection received a generous gift, from the Egyptian government, of coffins and coffin ensembles found in a a so-called cachette in Thebes.
  • Towards the end of the 19th century, the Miramar collection of almost 2,000 objects from the possession of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico was added to the inventory of the imperial collections.
  • Between 1882 and 1895, Eduard Glaser undertook four expeditions to Yemen, collecting Old South Arabian inscriptions that remain of fundamental importance for the study of ancient Yemen.
  • In the first half of the 20th century, more additions were the result of archaeological excavations in Egypt and Nubia financed by the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
  • Between 1912 and 1929, excavations on the rocky plateau of Giza unearthed artifacts from the Old Kingdom such as the famous Reserve Head, numerous tomb statues, inscribed and reliefed architectural components such as false doors and architraves, coffins of stone and wood, Canopic jars, jewelry, vessels of various materials, etc.
  • In 1914, private financing made possible the purchase of the Offering Chapel of Ka-ni-nisut from the Egyptian Antiquities Service.

The small but significant collection, structured in four large areas (funerary cult, cultural history, sculpture and relief and the development of writing), take you through ancient Egyptian life, culture and religion.  They are housed in magnificently decorated rooms following an Egyptianesque design, part of the original plan of architects Gottfried Semper and Karl von Hasenauer, offering an immersive experience with the walls, ceilings, columns and even the door arches of several rooms matching the Egyptian topic in terms of design and decoration.

Gallery 1

In Gallery 1, instead of the marble pillars, the architects reused the three, more than 6 m. high, original Egyptian monolithic columns from excavations in Alexandria, to support the ceiling.  On display are mummies, sarcophagi, scarabs, coffins and canopic jars (where the internal organs were stored for the afterlife). Particularly impressive was the giant sarcophagus of Pa-di-pep from the late-period 26th Dynasty.

Murals on paper, which lend a special character to the large first hall, are copies of mural paintings from the tomb of Prince Chnum-hetep at Beni Hassan in Middle Egypt and were made by Ernst Weidenbach for the Vienna World’s Fair of 1873.

Gallery 2 houses the actual Offering Chapel of Ka-ni-nisut (a high-ranking civil servant from around the 4th/5th dynasty, some 4,500 years ago), a mastaba or large tomb which was shipped over from its location in Giza in 1914. You can go into the chamber.

Ushabti at Gallery 3

Gallery 3 has a collection of ushabti which were left in tombs to take on manual tasks for the deceased in the afterlife. They sometimes also included model overseers to manage the laborers.

Gallery 5

Gallery 5, dedicated to funerary literature, displays scrolls, wall inscriptions and similar containing the spells and texts required to ensure safe passage into the afterlife including an original papyrus showing a pictorial guide to the underworld.

Gallery 4, leading off Gallery 5, covers magic and gods. On display are various mummified animals, including a cat, crocodile, fish and snake. There’s even a tiny coffin built for a shrew (a divine animal representing the sky god Horus).

Gallery 7

Gallery 6 displays clothes, pottery and jewelry from the time while Galleries 7 to 9 displays various busts, statues, temple items and similar. In Gallery 7 are false doors that acted as symbolic gateways between the present and the hereafter plus the unusually lifelike and chubby statue of Sebek-em-saf from 1700 BC..

Sarcophagus of Nesshutefnut

In Gallery 9, there’s the unfinished 2nd century BC sarcophagus of priest Pa-nehem-isis whose every surface is inscribed with symbols.

Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection: Raised Ground Floor, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Maria Theresien-Platz, 1010 Vienna. Tel: +43 1 525 24- 4902. E-mail: info.ansa@khm. Open Tuesdays – Sundays, 10 AM – 6 PM, Thursdays, 10 AM – 9 PM.

Kunsthistorisches Museum – Kunstkammer (Vienna, Austria)

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Kunstkammer

The Kunstkammer Wien, the most important collection of its kind in the world, has 2,162 fabulous artworks passionately collected by the Habsburg emperors (above all Rudolf II) and archdukes over centuries.

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Ibonized and ormolu cabinet of Ferdinand ll von Tirol

One of the most important chambers of art and wonders in the world, it was opened to the public on March 1, 2013 after years of extensive refurbishment (between 2002 and 2012).

Gold Platter with a Relief (Christoph Lencker)

This “museum within the museum” has 20 galleries which fills the lower eastern wing of the main building of the museum. On an area of 2,717 sq. m., more than 1,000 years of history can be experienced in the Kunstkammer.

Emperor Charles V (Leone Leoni, 1555, bronze)

A Carolingian ivory tablet from the 9th century is the oldest exhibit while a ceiling painting, from the year 1891, is the youngest.

Golden Candlesticks

The Kunstkammer, aside from showcasing the standout items of various Habsburg collections put together from the 16th century onwards, also demonstrated the best of nature and man’s creative abilities.

Altar of St. Jerome (Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen)

The encyclopedic and universal collections of the Kunst-und Wunderkammern (arts and natural wonders rooms) from the late Middle Ages to the Renaissance and Baroque periods attempted to reflect the entire knowledge of the day.

Jacob and Rachel (Democrito Gandolfi)

Of particularly interest are the desirable, exotic, rare, curious and unusual objects, often ascribed with magical powers, such as precious stones, ostrich eggs, coral and shark’s teeth, natural products from which artists created virtuoso works of art.

Cabinet of Archduke Ferdinand II

Among its highlights are numerous other art objects which have been collected since the Middle Ages such as carvings, timepieces, paintings, ivory sculptures, strange scientific instruments, wall-hangings, tapestries, coins, weapons, precious stone vessels, elaborate automatons, sumptuous game boards, drinking games and all sorts of humorous vessels, and a wide range of curiosities from the natural world.

Danae, part of a 6-piece Mythological Representation (Francesco Primaticcio, 1540-50)

They include examples of fabulous goldsmith work such as the celebrated and precious Saliera (“salt cellar,” which dates to the middle of the 16th century) by Benvenuto Cellini (at the heart of the collection) and the valuable  gold and porcelain breakfast service of Maria Theresia; the so-called “Natternzungenkredenz” (around 1450), including fossil sharks’ teeth, considered to be the mystical remains of dragons; the natural cast of a real toad; outstanding sculptures such as the Krumau Madonna; magnificent bronze statuettes; a “Narwalhornbecher” from the 17th century claimed at the time to be made from a unicorn horn (actually a narwhal tusk); the Dragon Bowl made from lapis lazuli; delicate and bizarre ivories; carved rhinoceros horns, a valuable musical clock in the shape of a ship, a glass container (tafelaufsatz) shaped like a heron with real heron feathers; etc.

Large tafelaufsatz in the shape of a heron (Saracchi Workshop, ca. 1590)

Each gallery, with its excellent design and layout carrying you along on a journey through changing times and techniques, has an overview explaining its theme and/or relevance to art and history.  As you move from room to room, different art forms progressed, at different rates, in different regions.

Kaiser Franz I (Camillo Pacetti)

Each item has an accompanying short description and touch screens provide further background information, more detail on selected exhibits and the genealogy of the Habsburg dynasty.

Gallery 19 (Golden Hall)

Gallery 19 (Golden Hall) impressed us with its huge ceiling painting “Mäcene the House of Habsburg,” the magnum opus of the now almost-forgotten history painter Julius Victor Berger which pays homage to the Habsburg art patrons and their favorite artists.

Mäcene the House of Habsburg (Julius Victor Berger, 1891)

In Gallery 20 is the ivory collection of Emperor Leopold I, nephew of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. They include the impressive ivory piece, from 1700, depicting Archduke Leopold adorned with angels, with a foot resting on his vanquished Ottoman foes following the famous defeats of the Ottoman armies, most notably at the Siege of Vienna in 1683 (though he was nowhere to be seen at that time in Vienna).

Gallery 20

There’s also the detailed (check out the mind-blowing detail of the battle of Amazons) ivory and cedar reliefs, from the late 1600s and early 1700s, by Ignaz Elhafen; and the ivory reliefs by Johann Ignaz Bendl (he also contributed to the famous plague column in Vienna’s city center).

Ivory Goblet (Marcus Heiden)

Gallery 22 displays the Master of the Furies, gorgeous ivory statuettes by an unknown artist, and a delightful ivory phoenix from 1610/1620.

In Gallery 23 (to the side of Gallery 22), we found 17th century clocks and scientific instruments from the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm.

Handstones

Gallery 24, which continues the theme of intertwining nature and art, features items from the 16th century Innsbruck collection of Archduke Ferdinand II including the so-called hand stones (pieces of ore with biblical or mining scenes carved into them, with added decorative elements and models); plus pieces of glassware and crystal ware from Milanese workshops (e.g. Saracchi, Miseroni), many of which mimic the human body, plants, animals, and shells and often incorporate natural materials and surprisingly practical functions (a tortoise becomes a powder flask, a nautilus shell becomes a drinking vessel, etc.).

Dragon Shell (Gasparo Miseroni, 1565-70) features a fierce dragon motif in gold, enamel, rubies, emeralds and pearls

Gallery 25 houses some of the sumptuous and artistic settings of the Habsburgs such as rhino horns and ostrich eggs.

Gallery 25

Often attributed with medicinal and magical powers by Europeans, these settings often served to emphasize the exotic nature of each of these items.

Displays include a figure of an African below an ostrich shell; a 1611 silver goblet made from rhino horn and decorated with warthog tusks; a giant 1592 basin and ewer decorated with pearl and garnets (its edges have metal casts of frogs and insects, in the 1500s people believed that putting one in a drink got rid of poison); and a large bezoar (indigestible masses found in the gastrointestinal system of animals, in this case a llama) on a gold, emerald and ruby base from the late 1500s.

Lidded rhinoceros-horn goblet with warthog tusks

Ornamental basin with ewer (Nikolaus Schmidt, ca. 1592)

Gallery 26, covering the stonecutting arts, features 17th century landscapes and cityscapes built, mosaic-like, from precious agate, jasper and hornstone.  On display are a small private altar, from 1590/1600, which features Christ and the Woman of Samaria at Jacob’s Well by Gian Ambrogio Caroni, constructed from precious gems and metals (rock crystal, jasper, agates, lapis lazuli, emeralds, amethyst, gold, enamel, gilded silver and pearls).

Gallery 27, holding items from the Prague collection of Emperor Rudolf II, showed us how art, science and engineering began to combine with its displays of various automatons such as a mechanical ship from 1585 (the sails are miniature paintings); mechanical clocks from the late 1500s and early 1600s; sundials; vessels made of precious stone (believed to have healing or restorative powers), and much more.

Automaton in the form of a ship (Hans Schlottheim, 1585)

There’s also a narwhal goblet, made of narwhal ivory, gold, enamel, diamonds, rubies, and agate, from 1600/1605; a gilded silver and enamel ornamental ewer and basin from 1601/1602; the bronze figure of a Flying Mercury, from 1585, by Giambologna; and the German Mercury figure.

Flying Mercury (Giambologna)

Gallery 28 features measuring instruments; precious, 16th and 17th century carved coconuts gilded with silver; a wood, bronze and pearl cabinet from 1560/1570 designed for storing art.

Vicky and Grace at Gallery 29

At Gallery 29, we found the famous 1543 Saliera by Benvenuto Cellini (also known as the Cellini salt cellar), a golden salt and pepper dispenser for the table estimated to be worth about US$65 million.  An allegory for the cosmos in gold, enamel, ebony and ivory, it was originally owned by King Francis I and given by King Charles IX of France, the king’s grandson, as a present to Archduke Ferdinand II.

Saliera or Salt Cellar (Benvenuto Cellini)

Stolen in 2003 by an opportunistic passerby who scaled the scaffolding during renovations and disappeared off with the work, authorities recovered the Saliera in 2006 unharmed, found interred in a forest near Vienna.

Winged Mompelgarder Altar

In Gallery 30 is the Mompelgarder Altar, a ca. 1540, bright and colorful winged altarpiece created in the workshop of Heinrich Füllmaurer, whose many panels bear inscriptions from Martin Luther’s German translation of the Bible.

Gallery 31 features a sensational, incredibly detailed (check out the small flowers and distant backgrounds accompanying the two horsed emperors), carved backgammon set, from 1537. A statement of power and prestige, its pieces depict intricate literary scenes and its board back shows representations of the Habsburg dynasty, its lands, and its spiritual (though not actual) predecessors, such as Roman emperors.

At Gallery 32, we saw how art spread beyond its original (mostly religious) context, with artists starting to push back the borders of what’s possible.  This is best illustrated by two bronze figures (ca. 1580), with its fluidity of apparent movement not seen in earlier bronzes, by Giambologna whose sculptures aim to create statues that invite you to walk around them. The gallery also displays an early automaton (or mechanical model) – a female musician from the late 1500s.

Busts of the family of Emperor Leopold I (Paul Strudel, 1695)

Gallery 34 displays 15th century figures and busts.  Highlights here include the Vanitas Group of three figures, representing the beauty and transience of youth, carved from a single piece of limewood; a bronze statue of Bellerophon taming Pegasus, from around 1481 by Bertoldo di Giovanni, a pupil of Donatello (creator of the famous bronze David) and a teacher of Michelangelo (creator of another famous David); and a collection of plaquettes (small bronze reliefs) from the 15th century and later.

Vanitas group by Michel Erhart or Jörg Syrlin the Elder, ca.1470-80

In Gallery 35 is the so-called Adder’s Tongues Credenza from around 1450, an ornament embedded with fossil shark’s teeth (considered to be dragon’s tongues, they were thought to sweat or change color when near poisoned food or drink) as well as a tiny, finely detailed boxwood rosary pendant displaying the Passion of Christ, a truly astonishing work of art.

Galleries 36 and 37 mainly feature ecclesiastical items from the 11th to 14th centuries which dominated early art. On display are a griffon-shaped aquamanile, basically a water jug used for the ritualistic washing of hands, from around 1125.

Kunskammer Wien: Raised Ground Floor, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Maria Theresien-Platz, 1010 Vienna. Tel: +43 1 525 24- 4902. E-mail: info.ansa@khm. Open Tuesdays – Sundays, 10 AM – 6 PM, Thursdays, 10 AM – 9 PM. Audio guides, in both English and German (see here for general visitor tips for the museum), are also available in the museum entrance hall..

How to Get There: take U1 going to Leopoldau at Keplerplatz, transfer to U2 going to Aspernstrabe at Karlsplatz, exit at Volkstheater.

Kunsthistorisches Museum – Picture Gallery (Vienna, Austria)

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The author beside the painting of Helene Fourment (Peter Paul Rubens), Picture Gallery, Kunsthistorisches Museum

The Picture Gallery of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, developed from the art collections of the House of Habsburg (notably Rudolf II in the late-16th/early-17th century and Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in the mid-17th century), is one of the largest and most important of its kind in the world with numerous masterpieces from European art history.

Check out “Kunsthistorisches Museum“

Grablegung Christi (Tizan)

Ecce Homo (Tiziano Vecellio, 1543)

It occupies two wings of the first floor with one wing focusing on 16th-century Venetian painting (Titian, Paolo Veronese, Tintoretto, etc.), Spanish and French works and the other on Dutch painting (Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, etc.), 17th-century Flemish painting (Peter Paul Rubens, Sir Anthony Van Dyck, etc.) and German Renaissance painting (Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach, etc.).

John the Baptist Preaching (Bernardo Strozzi)

Mary with Child and Saints (Perugino)

The gallery includes the world’s largest collection of works by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, painted depictions of 16th century life which are unique worldwide and are an absolute joy.

The author (left) beside the painting of The Peasant Wedding of Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1568)

Tower of Babel (Pieter Bruegel)

The Massacre of the Innocents (Pieter Bruegel the Elder)

It features such famous works as the iconic The Tower of Babel (1563), The Fight Between Carnival and Lent (1559), Children’s Games (1560),  The Procession to Calvary (1564), The Gloomy Day (February-March, 1565), The Return of the Herd (October-November, 1565), The Hunters in the Snow (December-January, 1565), The Peasant and the Nest Robber (Bauer und Vogeldieb, 1568), The Peasant Wedding (1568/69) and The Peasant Dance (1568/69).

Madonna of the Meadow (Raphael)

Madonna and Child with Saints Catherine and James (Lorenzo Lotto)

Among the other highlights hanging in the hallowed museum walls of the Picture Gallery are its holdings of masterpieces of Europe’s greatest artists from the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries such as:

Homecoming of Hagar (Pietro da Cortona)

Hercules, Dejanira and the centaur Nesius (Paolo Veronese)

The paintings, though hanging in tall galleries, are more or less at eye level, making them easy to view from lovely upholstered sofas.

Cimon and Iphigenaia (Peter Paul Rubens)

The Four Rivers of Paradise (Peter Paul Rubens, 1615)

The protective rails feature accessible, individual descriptions in both German and English.

Bird hunting in Brussels (David Terniers, 1652)

Around 1890, Gustav Klimt, Ernst Klimt and Franz von Matsch painted the areas between and around the arches and columns on the north wall of the main staircase.

Advent … Elizabeth’s Moment (Luca Giordano)

The Triumph of Bacchus (Michaelina Woutiers)

Picture Gallery: First Floor, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Maria Theresien-Platz, 1010 Vienna. Tel: +43 1 525 24- 4902. E-mail: info.ansa@khm. Open Tuesdays – Sundays, 10 AM – 6 PM, Thursdays, 10 AM – 9 PM.

How to Get There: take U1 going to Leopoldau at Keplerplatz, transfer to U2 going to Aspernstrabe at Karlsplatz, exit at Volkstheater.

Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna, Austria)

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Kunsthistorisches Museum

The Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History), also often referred to as the “Museum of Fine Arts,” is housed in its festive palatial building, on the Ringstraße. The term Kunsthistorisches Museum applies to both the institution and the main building.

L-R (standing): Popong Flores, Jandy Layug, the author, Grace Layug, Manny Sta. Maria, Freddie Sta. Maria and Isko Dionela. Seated: Cheska and Kyle Layug

It was opened by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary around 1891, the same time as the Natural History Museum (Naturhistorisches Museum) across Maria-Theresien-Platz.

Check out “Natural History Museum“

The ornate interior

The two museums, with identical exteriors,  were commissioned by the Emperor in order to find a suitable shelter for the Habsburgs‘ formidable art collection and to make it accessible to the general public.

Apotheosis Of The Renaissance (Mihaly Munkacsy, 1844-1900, Hungary)

Both were built between 1872 and 1891 according to plans drawn up by Gottfried Semper and Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer.

This rectangular building, with its sandstone façade, is topped with a 60 m. high octagonal dome.  Its interior is lavishly decorated with marble, stucco ornamentations, gold-leaf, and paintings.

Jandy beside sculpture of Theseus Defeats the Centaur (Antonio Canova)

Here are some interesting trivia regarding the museum:

The collections of the Kunsthistorisches Museum  include the Picture Gallery, the Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection, the Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities, Kunstkammer (Collection of Sculpture and Decorative Arts), the Coin Cabinet and the Library.

Check out “Kunsthistorisches Museum – Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection,” “Kunsthistorisches Museum – Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities,” “Kunsthistorisches Museum – Picture Gallery” and “Kunsthistorisches Museum – Kunstkammer.”

Kunsthistorisches Museum: Maria Theresien-Platz, 1010 Vienna. Tel: +43 1 525 24- 4902. E-mail: info.ansa@khm. Open Tuesdays – Sundays, 10 AM – 6 PM, Thursdays, 10 AM – 9 PM.

How to Get There: take U1 going to Leopoldau at Keplerplatz, transfer to U2 going to Aspernstrabe at Karlsplatz, exit at Volkstheater.

 

Natural History Museum (Vienna, Austria)

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Natural History Museum (NHM)

The Museum of Natural History (NHM, German: Naturhistorisches Museum),  amongst the most splendid of the buildings that line the Vienna Ringstrasse, houses one of the largest natural history  collections in the world.

The author trying out a microscope

Cheska and Kyle viewing a brown bear

Jandy beside a coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae)

Founded 250 years ago by Franz Stephan von Lothringen, the Natural History Museum was built as a cathedral to the natural sciences between 1872 and 1891 according to plans drawn up by Gottfried Semper and Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer.

The main staircase

The building itself, a masterpiece of historical Neo-Renaissance architecture, was opened in 1889 as the Imperial Natural History Museum, at the same time as the Kunsthistorisches Museum. The two museums, on the Ringstraße, facing each other across Maria-Theresien-Platz, have identical exteriors.

The ornate interior

Built to house the huge collection of the Habsburgs, it has timeless elegance.  Its ornate decoration, furniture and precious exhibits make it a feast for the eyes for those interested in arts, scienceand architecture. The building itself is an artifact for historical preservation.

One of 39 exhibit halls – ornithological display

Copernican Planetary Machine

Archelon ischyros – world’s largest turtle

Its collection, in 39 exhibit halls against a backdrop of magnificent halls and spread out in 8,700 sq. m. (94,000 sq. ft.), has grown to approximately 30 million objects and artifacts (as of 2011), 25 million of which are the essential basis for the work of over 60 staff scientists.

Dinosaur skulls

Venus of Willendorf

Trilobites

The scientists’s main fields of research cover a wide range of topics, from the origins of the Solar System and the evolution of animals and plants to human evolution, as well as prehistoric traditions and customs. It forms the basis for natural sciences research at the NHM.

Lake Nyrshany – a Carboniferous Ecosystem

Early Sharks and Lobefins (Coelacanths)

Allosaurus fragilis

On display at the first floor are a variety of species from the animal world, from protozoa to insects to highly developed living mammals in modern terraria and aquaria.

A pirarucu (arapaima) from the Amazon River, Brazil

Whale Shark

Zebras

Herpetological display featuring taxidermied crocodiles

Turtles and Tortoises

Anaconda

Those over 200 years old, on their own account, are of particular interest as historical records for the history of science and the art of taxidermy.

Japanese Spider Crab

Komodo Dragon

Tiger-headed Python

Numerous stuffed animals, of species either long-extinct (such as Steller’s sea cow)  or extremely endangered, have made the collections truly famous and irreplaceable.

Skeleton of Steller’s Sea Cow

Skeleton of a Fin Whale

Pteranodon ingens

Skull of a Sperm Whale

The upper floor (Hochparterre) displays the following:

Austrian Meteorites

Amethyst

Diamonds and Quartz Crystals

Gold nuggets

The giant topaz crystal

Iron Meteorites

Some of the signs and explanations in the museum are in German but, following a recent renovation, much of the museum is now in German and English.

Bradysaurus baini

Dunkleosteus terrelli

Prodeinotherium bavaricum

Natural History Museum :  Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria. Tel: +43 1 521770. Open 9 AM – 6:30 PM. The museum’s website provides an overview in the form of a virtual tour.

Österreichische Galerie Belvedere (Vienna, Austria)

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Osterreichische Galerie Belvedere

The highlight of our tour of the Belvedere Palace, the summer residence of  the great art patron and collector Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663–1736), was our tour of the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere (Austrian Gallery), an art museum housed in the Upper Belvedere, one of two palaces that make up the Belvedere.

Check out “Upper Belvedere“

The author

Named as such in 1921, this museum houses an extensive and permanent collection which includes several thousand masterpieces from the Middle Ages and Baroque up to the 21st century contemporary art, focusing on Austrian painters from the Fin de Siècle and Art Nouveau period complemented by the works of international artists.

Further attractions at the museum include key works of French Impressionism and the greatest, outstanding and most important collection of Viennese art from the Biedermeier Collection as well as highlights of the Baroque and Medieval Collection.

Duke Ernst the Iron Saves Cimburgis (Franz Dobyaschofsky, 1850, oil on canvas)

The collection threw a fresh and exciting light on artworks by well known Austrian artists that includes the world’s largest collections of paintings by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller and Gustav Klimt and the Character Heads by Franz Xaver Messerschmidt. Other Austrian artists with works displayed include Rueland Frueauf the Elder, Erika Giovanna Klien, Egon Schiele, Helene Funke, and Oskar Kokoschka.

Cheska admiring “Count Moritz Christian von Fries and his Family,” an oil on canvas painting by François Pascal Simon Gérard

The museum’s display concept offered fresh approaches to these masterpieces of art through four innovative and thematically organized galleries (Austrian Baroque; Habsburg – Myth and Truth; Austria in Exile: Artists in Exile – Destinies in Dark Times; and Austria on the Move) that enlivened the path through the chronologically arranged periods of art in the permanent collection, sparking a multi-layered dialogue between the classics of art history and contemporary artists, for example Erwin Wurm and Christian Philipp Müller.

Empress Maria Theresa with her Children (Heinrich Fuger, tempera on parchment, 1776)

Conceived as a deliberate pause, the magnificent staterooms provides an opportunity to engage with, as well as focus on, issues and questions concerning Austria’s art, identity and history over the course of different epochs. An exciting interaction between past and present, we encountered and experienced an almost complete overview of the development of over 500 years of art history in Austria and, thus, an insight into the country’s history, rediscovering old favorites in a new context.

The Chess game (Josef Danhauser, 1839)

A section in the exhibition is dedicated to the tempestuous history of the Belvedere covering Prince Eugene’s building of the palaces, the foundation of the museum, the signing of the Austrian State Treaty, and its role today as a modern museum.

Gustav Klimt, The Kiss (Lovers), 1908–1909. Measuring 180×180 cms., the ornamental character of this masterpiece is enhanced with gold and silver. According to a contemporary rumor, the couple depicted is the artist himself and his lifelong partner Emilie Flöge. which was Bought in 1908 by the Moderne Galerie, Klimt reached the pinnacle of his “golden” phase with “The Kiss.”

At the Galerie des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts (Gallery of 19th- and 20th-Century Art), I found works by the artists of the 1897 Secessionist movement. Most outstanding is Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), one of the movement’s founders.  The heart of the presentation of “Art around 1900” is the collection of 24 of his works (portraits, landscapes, and allegorical scenes), the world’s largest collection of his paintings, which allowed us to trace the evolution of his style, from elegant portraiture (e.g. 1897/1898’s Sonja Krips), through to portraits with abstract elements (1906’s Fritza Riedler), impressionist landscapes (1907’s Flowering Poppies) and, of course, the golden pictures The Kiss (1907/08), his most famous painting, and Judith (1901).

Napoleon at the St. Bernard Pass (Jacques Louis David, 1801. Oil on canvas, 246 x 231 cm.)

Sharing almost equal billing with Klimt is Egon Schiele  (1890-1918).  The museum hosts some of Schiele’s masterpieces, including The Wife of an Artist, The Embrace, Death and the Maiden, and The Family (a self-portrait painted just months before his death in 1918 from Spanish flu; the expressions on their faces suggest that Schiele and his wife almost seem to know what’s coming).

Österreichische Galerie Belvedere: Upper Belvedere, Prinz Eugen-Straße 27, 1030 Vienna, Austria. Tel: +43 1 795 57-0 and +43 1 79557134. Open: 10 AM -6 PM. E-mail: info@belvedere.at. Website:  www.belvedere.at.  Admission (Upper Belvedere): €16 (adult)

How to Get There: take U1 going to Reumannplatz at Stephansplatz, exit at Hauptbahnhof, then walk.

Upper Belvedere (Vienna, Austria)

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Upper Belvedere

After our tour of Schonbrunn Palace and its Imperial Carriage Museum, Grace, Jandy, Cheska, Kyle, Vicky, Isko, Manny and I walked towards the nearby Wien Schonbrunn where we took the tram to Wien Karlsplatz.

The author (left foreground) at the Upper Belvedere

Upon arrival, we walked 600 m., from the Belvedere Palace entrance, to the Upper Belvedere where Grace, Jandy, Cheska and I were to explore Österreichische Galerie.  The others stayed behind with Kyle.

Check out “Schonbrunn Palace and Gardens,” Imperial Carriage Museum” and “Österreichische Galerie Belvedere”

The historic Upper Belvedere (Oberes Belvedere), one of two Baroque palaces (the other is the Lower Belvedere or Unteres Belvedere), is part of the palace complex (which also included the Orangery and the Palace Stables) built as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy, the commander-in-chief who had just successfully concluded a series of wars against the Ottoman Empire.

The Belvedere was built during a period of extensive construction in Vienna, which at the time was both the imperial capital and home to the ruling Habsburg dynasty.

Here’s the historical timeline of the Upper Belvedere:

  • On November 30, 1697, one year after commencing with the construction of the Stadtpalais, Prince Eugene purchased a sizable plot of land south of the Rennweg, the main road to Hungary. Plans for the Belvedere garden complex were drawn up immediately. Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt was the chief architect for this project.
  • As early as 1717, the construction of the Upper Belvedere began as testified by two letters that Prince Eugene sent from Belgrade to his servant Benedetti in summer 1718 describing the progress of work on the palace.
  • By October 2, 1719, construction was so far advanced that the prince was able to receive the Turkish ambassador Ibrahim Pasha there.
  • As early as 1718, the decoration of the interior started.
  • In 1719, Prince Eugene commissioned the Italian painter Francesco Solimena to execute both the altarpiece for the Palace Chapel and the ceiling fresco in the Golden Room.
  • In the same year, Gaetano Fanti was commissioned to execute the illusionistic quadratura painting in the Marble Hall.
  • In 1720, Carlo Carlone was entrusted with the task of painting the ceiling fresco in the Marble Hall, which he executed from 1721–23.
  • In 1723, the building was completed.
  • In the winter of 1732–33, as the Sala Terrena was at risk of collapsing due to structural problems, Hildebrandt was forced to install a nine-bay vaulted ceiling supported by four structural telamons, giving the room its current appearance.
  • On April 21 1736, the childless Prince Eugene died in his City Palace in Vienna without a legally binding will. A commission, set up by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, named the prince’s niece Victoria (daughter of his eldest brother Thomas and the only surviving member of the house of Savoy-Soissons) as his heir.
  • On July 6, 1736, Princess Victoria moved into the Belvedere, known at that point as the Gartenpalais.
  • In November 1752, Maria Theresa, the daughter of Charles VI, purchased the estate from Princess Victoria.
  • In 1776, Maria Theresa and her son, Emperor Joseph II, decided to transfer the u.k. Gemäldegalerie (“Imperial Picture Gallery”) from the Imperial Stables  (a part of the city’s Hofburg Imperial Palace) to the Upper Belvedere. Inspired by the idea of enlightened absolutism, her intention was to make the imperial collection accessible to the general public.
  • In 1781, the picture gallery opened, making it one of the first public museums in the world.
  • In 1891, the imperial collection was transferred to the newly built Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Arts) on Vienna’s splendid Ringstrasse.
  • In 1896, Emperor Franz Joseph I decided that the Upper Belvedere should serve as a residence for Franz Ferdinand, his nephew and the heir presumptive to the throne. Under the supervision of the architect Emil von Förster (also imperial undersecretary), the heir had the palace remodeled.
  • In November 1918, shortly after the end of World War I, art historian Franz Haberditzl submitted a request to the Ministry of Education, asking for the palaces to be left to the Staatsgalerie. This application was granted the very next year.
  • During World War II, the palaces suffered considerable damage. Parts of the Marble Hall in the Upper Belvedere and the Hall of Grotesques in the Lower Belvedere were destroyed by bombs.
  • On February 4, 1953, after reconstruction work was completed, the Österreichische Galerie (Austrian Gallery) reopened in the Upper Belvedere.
  • On May 15, 1955, the Austrian State Treaty (the treaty that gave Austria its independence back after the post-World War II occupation) was signed at the Marble Hall by Leopold Figl and representatives of the four occupying powers, England, France, the Soviet Union, and the USA.

One of 12 Rococo sphinxes

The buildings are set in a Baroque park landscape in the third district of the city, on the south-eastern edge of its centre.  The grounds are set on a gentle gradient and include decorative tiered fountains and cascades, Baroque sculptures, and majestic wrought iron gates.

Sculpture of a man fighting with a horse

The Upper Belvedere is located at the top of the slope at the southern end of the park. It had a purely representative function and only contained reception halls and banquet halls.

Its exterior, especially the magnificent main façade, facing south, is much more impressive than the rather modest Lower Belvedere. The many sculptures that adorn the facade are a reference to Prince Eugene’s victory over the Turkish army and the rooftop structures are said to evoke tents at Turkish army camps.

Unfortunately little of the original interior, designed by French furniture maker Claude le Fort du Plessy, has been preserved since the building was actively used until the mid-twentieth century.

Originally, the main entrance was located on the south side of the Upper Belvedere and can still be recognized by its access ramps.

We entered the Upper Belvedere via the Sala Terrena, a large, brilliant white ground floor hall that opens onto to the garden side of the Upper Belvedere.

Atlas (Giovanni Giuliani)

It is dominated by four mighty atlases (atlantes), sculpted by Giovanni Giuliani, supporting the richly decorated, stuccoed vaulted ceiling of the room.

Initially, the Sala Terrena was designed as a uniform spacious hall but, after structural damage in the winter of 1732/33, the installation of the four supports became necessary.

Bas-relief

Serving both as the garden hall and vestibule, the hall led us to the huge, wide stone Grand Staircase with its stucco martial reliefs and giant iron-wrought lamps.

Grand Staircase

Lining the staircase are scenes from the life of Alexander the Great meant to inspire visitors to contemplate the virtuous deeds of Prince Eugene.

Wrought iron lamp

The right wall is adorned with a stucco relief depicting the triumph of Alexander the Great over Darius III, while on the left, Darius’s wives are depicted in front of Alexander.

Ecce Homo (Anton Hanak) at stairway gallery

Statue of Maria Theresia (Franz Xaver Messerschmidt)

Statue of Emperor Francis I (Franz Xaver Messerschmidt)

The magnificent Marble Hall, the Baroque state room and the central chamber of the Upper Belvedere, is the first room we encountered from the Grand Staircase.

Marble Hall

Open to the public, it reaches two stories in height and is dominated by reddish-brown marble, rich gilding, and a large, ornate ceiling fresco (“Prince Eugene as a new Apollo and Leader of the Muses”).

The ceiling fresco was created by northern Italian fresco master and itinerant artist Carlo Innocenzo Carlone (1686–1775) and framed by fake architectures by Marcantonio Chiarini (from Bologna) and Gaetano Fanti, two Italian painters who specialized in quadratura , an illusionistic technique based on perspective laws.

Prince Eugene as a new Apollo and leader of the Muses

These illusionist paintings add false galleries and niches to the architecture. The windows here gave us great views down to Lower Belvedere and let us properly grasp the layout of the main gardens.

The Carlone Hall (or Painted Hall), originally serving as a spot to cool off and socialize on hot summer days, was named after its creator Carlo Innocenzo Carlone who painted the impressive ceiling fresco depicting the “Triumphs of Aurora” (1722/23).

While walking round the Klimt part of the collection, we saw the small, octagonal Palace Chapel which is largely preserved in its original condition, as evidenced by a drawing by Salomon Kleiner from the 1830s. Mass is held here every Sunday at 12 noon

L-R: Isko, Kyle, Jandy, the author, Manny, Cheska and Grace

Upper Belvedere: Prinz Eugen-Straße 27, 1030 Vienna, Austria. Tel: +43 1 795 57-0 and +43 1 79557134. Open: 10 AM -6 PM. E-mail: info@belvedere.at. Website:  www.belvedere.at. Admission (Upper Belvedere): €16 (adult).

Imperial Carriage Museum (Vienna, Austria)

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The Imperial Carriage Museum (Wagenburg)

The Imperial Carriage Museum (Wagenburg)

The Imperial Carriage Museum (also called the Wagenburg), housed in the grounds of the Schlosses Schönbrunn,  is a museum of some 170 (101 of which were part of the imperial fleet) court vehicles (including the only preserved Court Automobile of 1914) and carriages used by the imperial household of the Austrian Empire.

An array of carriages on display

An array of carriages on display

Court automobile, 1914

Court automobile, 1914

A department of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, it was transferred from the Imperial Stables in the Vienna Hofburg to Schönbrunn in 1922 and housed in the former Winter Riding School which had been specially converted for this purpose.

Typical town carriage, 1872

Typical town carriage, 1872

A 4-seater personal Calash a la Daumont

A 4-seater personal Calash a la Daumont

A 4-seater Berlin coach

A 4-seater Berlin coach

It features a famous and outstanding collection of carriages used by members of the imperial family and Viennese court.  The core of what was once the vehicle fleet of the Viennese Court, the collection includes exquisite state coaches, ceremonial and gala carriages, comfortable travelling coaches, charming children’s carriages of Habsburg princes and princesses, sleighs and sedan chairs.

Coronation landau, 1825

Coronation landau, 1825

Landau of the Imperial Court

Landau of the Imperial Court

One of the most famous exhibits and the highlight in this collection is the gilded Imperialwagen (imperial coach).  Probably built in 1764 for the coronation of Joseph II, it was, from then onwards, used for various imperial and royal Habsburg coronations. This splendid Baroque coach, drawn by eight grey horses, is  richly decorated with ornate carving and painting by Franz Xaver Wagenschön.

The Imperial Coach

The Imperial Coach

However, with a total weight of more than 4000 kgs., it could only proceed at a walking pace. When transported, the coach was dismantled, shipped to its destination by water and then reassembled in situ.  This breathtaking imperial carriage also drove Empress Elisabeth to her June 8, 1867 coronation in Budapest’s Matthias Church. It was last used in 1916 during the coronation of Emperor Charles when it carried Empress Zita and Crown Prince Otto to the church.

Lavish personal town carriages o the Vienna Court

Lavish personal town carriages o the Vienna Court

Mourning homage carriage

Mourning homage carriage

Other noteworthy carriages include the Golden Carousel Carriage of Maria Theresia and the Child’s Phaeton of Napoleon’s son (the King of Rome).

Queen Maria Theresia's carousel carriage

Queen Maria Theresia’s carousel carriage

Children's carriage of the King of Rome

Child phaeton of the King of Rome

The Black Hearse o the Viennese Court

The Black Hearse of the Viennese Court

Another highlight is the “Sisi Trail” which traces the life of the popular and legendary Empress Elisabeth (fondly called Sisi) from her wedding to her tragic death.

Lavish personal 2-seater town carriage of Empress Elisabeth

Lavish personal 2-seater town carriage of Empress Elisabeth

Carriage of Empress Elisabeth

Carriage that introduced Sisi as the imperial bride

Her sumptuous carriages includes the carriage in which she was introduced as the imperial bride (it was also used by Napoleon for his 1805 coronation as King of Italy) in Vienna on April 23, 1854; the enchanting carriages of her children; the carriage which the empress was riding just before her assassination in Geneva and, at the end of this series of carriages, the imposing Black Hearse in which Sisi was carried to her grave on September 17, 1898.

Portraits of Empress Elisabeth's favorite horses

Portraits of Empress Elisabeth’s favorite horses

Empress Elisabeth's only surviving saddle

Empress Elisabeth’s only surviving saddle

We also saw paintings, 25 portraits of her favorite horses as well as her personal and unique mementos and keepsakes such as her only surviving saddle, her “riding chapel” and sumptuous original dresses and magnificent court robes including her splendid black riding outfit (the empress was considered the best horsewoman of her time), black court dress, chenille dress and the train of her bridal dress which was embroidered with real gold and silver.

Sisi's wedding train

Sisi’s wedding train

Black court dress of Empress Elisabeth

Black court dress of Empress Elisabeth

Chenille dress of Empress Elisabeth

Chenille dress of Empress Elisabeth

Also on display are livery of the Imperial Court, gala uniform of Emperor Franz Josef I, uniform of an officer of the Royal Hungarian Life Guard and vestments of a Knight of the French Royal Order of the Holy Spirit.

Campagne livery of the Imperial Court

Campagne livery of the Imperial Court

Gala uniform of Emperor Franz Josef I

Gala uniform of Emperor Franz Josef I

Vestments of a Knight of the French Royal Order of the Holy Spirit

Vestments of a Knight of the French Royal Order of the Holy Spirit

Uniform of an officer of the Royal Hungarian Life Guard

Uniform of an officer of the Royal Hungarian Life Guard

The Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna truly is a walk through the history of Austria, inviting you to see the carriages that accompany famous rulers such as by Maria Theresa, Napoleon I and Franz Joseph, providing us a glimpse of their eventful lives.

The author at the Imperial Carriage Museum

The author at the Imperial Carriage Museum

Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna:  Schloss Schönbrunn, Hietzing district, 1130Vienna, Austria. Tel: +43-1-525 24-4025.  E-mail: info.wb@khm.at. Website: www.khm.at.   Open daily, 10 AM – 4 PM, from March 16 until November 27, 2016, daily 9 AM – 5 PM.