Articles

Vienna's Imperial Palaces

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Stone mansions filled with the treasures of Austria's past are now museums that thrill travelers.

 

 

Belvedere	Liechtenstein	Schönbrunn
Completed in 1725	Completed in the late 1600s after 20 years	Palace covers over 1,76 square km
One of the most famous palaces in all of Europe	Recently opened after a $30 million facelift	There are 1,441 rooms in palace
Originally owned by a general named Prince Eugen von Savoyen	Now an art museum housing works by Raphael, Rubens, Rembrandt and van Dyck	Just 390 rooms were used by the court for living and receiving guests
Palace grounds feature one of the most beautiful gardens in all of Austria	Museum was a former summer palace but no one ever lived here	The ornate Great Gallery of Rittersaal is the most impressive room at Schönbrunn
Palace is now home to 7,000 works of art	Remarkable library is home to over 100,000 first edition books	Rooms not to miss: the Blue Salon, the Pink Room, the Imperial Room and the Millions Room
Palace celebrated its 120 anniversary as a museum in 2025	Ten of the palace's rooms are filled with 150 paintings from a private collection that totals over 1,700	Schönbrunn's garage houses historical decorative and practical wagons, some dating back to 1690
Archduke Ferdinand was living in Belvedere Palace at the time of his assassination	There are 16 original Rubens in the museum

 

 

Back in the days when the rulers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire settled in this musically gifted city, their houses were not homes, they were palaces.

In all, there were 200 palaces jammed into a small area of the enchanting city that would probably fit into our downtown.

And while the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not survive the test of time, the palaces did.

    Now many of those stone mansions have been transformed into museums -  160 at last count - where the treasures and trinkets of the rich and powerful are displayed for the amusement, and amazement, of the millions of visitors this storehouse of history attracts each year.

Forget about seeing all the palace museums on one visit to Vienna - unless, of course, you intend to stay a long time.     

 

If you are here for just a few days, we recommend that you should limit your museum visits to just three. 

 

 The Liechteinstein Museum (a.k.a. the Garden Palace), Belvedere Palace and 

Schönbrunn Palace are the ones you Must see.

 

On Day One of your three-day visit to magical Vienna head off to the garden palace now known as the Liechtenstein Museum, located a short tram ride from downtown Vienna.
Back in the days of the Empire, this part of the city qualified as cottage country.

 

The Liechtenstein and the treasures it houses are truly remarkable.

The most amazing thing about the mini-Louvre is that the building and the entire priceless collection within are privately owned by one family - the Liechtensteins, who still rule the tiny country that bears their name.   

 

The Liechtensteins were buddies of the ruling Habsburgs back in the 13th century and could easily afford the palaces - they owned about 30 throughout Europe - and all the trinkets that came with them. 

 

 In March of 2004, with great fanfare and after a $30 million facelift the current head of the Liechtenstein clan - Prince Hans-Adams II - opened the doors of the renovated museum. 

For the first time in over 70 years the Viennese got to see the priceless paintings housed within - works by Raphael, Rubens, Rembrandt and van Dyck, to name a few.     

 

 The baroque-style palace, which took 20 years to build, and was completed in the late 1600s, is itself a work of art.

The gilded halls are jammed with marble columns and staircases that evoke visions of Rome and Athens.    

During the two-year restoration, workmen uncovered ceiling frescoes that were concealed for centuries by paint. They have all now been brought back to their former glory.

 

  Visitors to the awesome museum are greeted by a golden carriage that sits in the covered entrance. It was one of five the family had built in Paris for trips to other cities.

 

The Liechtensteins actually never slept over at their "cottage", preferring to use it for day trips only.

 

The most amazing room in the palace museum is the library, where over 100,000 first editions sit collecting dust.

The works cover a period between the 16th century and 19th centuries and shelves are stacked three and four rows deep.
The centerpiece of the room is a huge marble Greek clock that dates back to 1794.

 

But its the art work that is the biggest draw here. And there is lots to see - 10 rooms filled with over 150 works.

Actually the family's collection contains over 1,700 paintings. And some have been in their possession for over 300 years. Several religious paintings date back to the 14th century.

 

There are 16 original Rubens alone that occupy two rooms.    

 A series of four huge paintings fills one of the largest rooms in the palace. They depict a great battle of from medieval times.

 

The largest room in the Liechtenstein Museum is known as Hercules Hall. And it is not just because of its size. Ceiling frescoes  that cover the gigantic room - 600 sq. m in total and a ceiling that sits 12 meters high from the floor - depict the Greek god in a unique 3-D technique that makes the ceiling appear much deeper than its actual two meters.

 

A day at the Liechtenstein will certainly whet your appetite for more of Vienna's famed museums.

So over the next two days we recommend you follow Vienna expert's advice and you pay visits to Belvedere Palace, another short tram ride from the city center, and then hop on a train on Day Three for a ride to the outskirts of the city where beautiful Schönbrunn

Palace is located. 

 While the Belvedere and its splendid gardens are fit for a king, the place was actually built and owned by a general - Prince Eugen von Savoyen - who fought for Habsburg's battles and became very rich doing so.

 

The estate features lots of fountains and statues and its lush gardens afford visitors a great view of Vienna.

The main house is now home to over 7,000 works of art, 500 of which can be displayed at any one time.

The impressionist masterpieces bear the names of Von Gogh, Monet and some of Austria's most famous painters like Gustav Klimp, whose Monet-like style is very pleasing to the eye. 

The oldest painting in the collection dates back to 1440.

 

Impressive black marble columns and more of those amazing frescoes highlight the Palace's ornate Marble Hall, which is being brought back in its original splendor in time to celebrate the museum's 100th anniversary in 2005.  

 

The palace also features four octagonal rooms that act as book ends at each corner of the grand limestone structure. 

One of those rooms has been transformed into an amazing chapel that wouldn't look out of place in the Vatican.

 

 The main reason why the Belvedere has become one of Vienna's most visited palaces - over 500,000 visitors pass through its gates almost every year - is because this is the place where Archduke Ferdinand was living at the time of his assassination while on a trip to Sarajevo - an event that touched off World War I.   

Some tourists after a visit to France never thought that any palace could outshine Versailles. That was the case until they arrive at the gates of sensational Schönbrunn.

  

The former home of Austria's beloved Empress Maria Theresia and a bunch of other royals over the centuries, Schönbrunn (Schönbrunn means beautiful fountain) will have you gushing superlatives for days after your visit. 

 

Unlike stone-cold Versailles, Schönbrunn, which covers 1.76 sq. km, will make you want to kick off your shoes and curl up on one of the Empress' overstuffed chairs that adorn every room. 

 

The 1,441 rooms are truly spectacular featuring delicate wall coverings, many imported from Asia. 

 

The ornate Great Gallery, of Rittersaal, is the most impressive room at Schonbrunn and is where most of the court's gala events were held.

The fresco-filled room was the creation of the famous painter Gregorio Guglielmi as his way of paying homage to Maria Theresia.

Rooms not to miss on your tour of Schönbrunn are the Blue Salon, the Pink Room, the Imperial Room and the Millions Room which probably cost millions to create because of the magnificent embossed wall coverings.

 

Schonbrunn's garden, filled with fountains and statues, are truly amazing and they lead visitors to the back of the property where the Wagenburg, the world's largest garage is located.

The garage, which could easily be mistaken for a palace itself, houses a large collection of historical decorative and practical wagons, some of which date back to 1690.

 

There is also a butterfly house, a small zoo and the Palm House, which is home to tropical plants