Citytrip Vienna, Austria
July 2015






Day 2 - Part 1
Sunday, July 19th


Schönbrunn Palace (German: Schloss Schönbrunn) is a former imperial summer residence located in Vienna, Austria. The name Schönbrunn (beautiful spring), has its roots in an artesian well from which water was consumed by the court. The 1,441-room Baroque palace is one of the most important architectural, cultural and historical monuments in the country. Since the mid-1950s it has been a major tourist attraction.

The history of the palace and its vast gardens spans over 300 years, reflecting the changing tastes, interests, and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs.

Franz Joseph, the longest-reigning emperor of Austria, was born at Schönbrunn and spent a great deal of his life there. He died there, at the age of 86, on 21 November 1916. Following the downfall of the Habsburg monarchy in November 1918, the palace became the property of newly founded Austrian Republic and was preserved as a museum.

 


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Schloss Schönbrunn, the palace square


Schloss Schönbrunn, the palace square

 


The House of Habsburg, also called House of Hapsburg, or House of Austria, was one of the most important royal houses of Europe. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habsburgs between 1438 and 1740.

The House takes its name from Habsburg Castle, a fortress built in the 1020s in present-day Switzerland by Count Radbot of Klettgau, who chose to name his fortress Habsburg. His grandson, Otto II, was the first to take the fortress name as his own, adding "Count of Habsburg" to his title. The House of Habsburg gathered dynastic momentum through the 11th, 12th, and 13th century.





The various Habsburg possessions never really formed a single country. Each province was governed according to its own particular customs. Until the mid 17th century, all of the provinces were not even necessarily ruled by the same person. Junior members of the family often ruled portions of the Hereditary Lands as private apanages.

Serious attempts at centralization began under Maria Theresa and especially her son Joseph II in the mid to late 18th century, but many of these were abandoned following large scale resistance to Joseph′s more radical reform attempts, although a more cautious policy of centralization continued during the revolutionary period which followed.

World War I led to the dismemberment of the Habsburg Empire. While Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Romanians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, and Italians were all claiming their share of the spoil, nothing remained to Charles, the last emperor and king, but "German" Austria and Hungary proper.

On November 11, 1918, he issued a proclamation recognizing Austria′s right to determine the future form of the state and renouncing for himself any share in affairs of state, and on November 13 he issued a similar proclamation to Hungary.

Even so, he did not abdicate his hereditary titles either for himself or for the Habsburg dynasty. Consequently the national assembly of the Austrian Republic passed the "Habsburg Law" of April 3, 1919, banishing all Habsburgs from Austrian territory unless they renounced all dynastic pretensions and loyally accepted the status of private citizens.

The garden


Originally known as the Ruin of Carthage, the Roman Ruin is a set of follies that 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. The fashion for picturesque ruins that became widespread with the rise of the Romantic movement soon after the middle of the 18th century symbolize both the decline of once great powers and the preservation of the remains of a heroic past.

 


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Schloss Schönbrunn garden


Schloss Schönbrunn garden

 


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The round pond

The round pond



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The Roman ruin

The Roman ruin



The garden axis points towards a 60-metre-high hill (200 ft), which since 1775 has been crowned by the Gloriette structure (Fischer von Erlach had initially planned to erect the main palace on the top of this hill).

 


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The Gloriette (left) and Schloss Schönbrunn (right)


The Gloriette (left) and Schloss Schönbrunn (right)

 


Maria Theresa decided Gloriette should be designed to glorify Habsburg power and the Just War (a war that would be carried out of "necessity" and lead to peace), and thereby ordered to recycle "otherwise useless stone" which was left from the almost-demolition of Schloss Neugebäude. The same material was also to be used for the Roman ruin.

The Gloriette today houses a café and an observation deck, which provides panoramic views of the city.











and welcome!






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Vienna Newspaper
2015-07-18

Vienna Newspaper
2015-07-19








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It's me

It's me



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Yep, it's me again

Yep, it's me again



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Station Schloss Schönbrunn

Station Schloss Schönbrunn



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Bronze model of Schloss Schönbrunn

Bronze model of
Schloss Schönbrunn


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Ticket office

Ticket office



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The palace

The palace



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Horse and carriage tour

Horse and carriage tour