Schönbrunn Palace (in German, Schloss Schönbrunn) is one of Austria’s most iconic landmarks and a former imperial summer residence of the Habsburg monarchy! Located in Vienna, this Baroque masterpiece is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most visited attractions in the country.

Schönbrunn Palace is known for its stunning Baroque architecture, lavishly decorated Rococo interiors, and magnificent formal gardens. Highlights include the Great Gallery, the Hall of Mirrors, and the Gloriette (in German, Große Galerie, Spiegelsaal, and Gloriette)!

So, do you want to know more about Schönbrunn Palace: Best Tips For Visiting This Year? Keep reading!

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Brief History of Schönbrunn Palace

The history of Schönbrunn Palace dates back to the late 16th century, when Emperor Maximilian II acquired a large hunting estate on the outskirts of Vienna. The name Schönbrunn, meaning “beautiful spring,” was inspired by an artesian well found on the grounds.

In the late 17th century, Emperor Leopold I had architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach design a Baroque residence for his son, Archduke Joseph von Österreich. In the mid-18th century, Empress Maria Theresa transformed Schönbrunn Palace into a grand summer home and political center.

Over the following centuries, Schönbrunn Palace continued to evolve with additions and renovations reflecting Rococo, Neoclassical, and Historicist styles. After the monarchy ended in 1918, the palace became public property and was later opened to visitors.

Nowadays, Schönbrunn Palace is one of Austria’s most important cultural and historical landmarks. Attracting millions of visitors each year, this UNESCO World Heritage Site offers insight into the grandeur of the Habsburg monarchy.

World Heritage

Did you know that the Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn were part of Austria’s first set of inscriptions on the UNESCO World Heritage List? The 20th session of the World Heritage Committee took place in Mérida (Mexico), between December 2nd and 7th, 1996.

Only one other Austrian site was announced in the session: the Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg.

Nowadays, Austria is the twenty-seventh country in the world and the sixteenth country in Europe with the most UNESCO sites. It has twelve heritage assets (both cultural and natural) inscribed on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization!

In the meantime, I’ve already had the opportunity to visit two of them:

• Historic Centre of Vienna (2001)
• Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn (1996)

How to Get to Schönbrunn Palace

Schönbrunn Palace is situated in Hietzing, the 13th district of Vienna, about 6 kilometers southwest of the city center. Known for its parks, historic buildings, and embassies, this quiet residential area is easily accessible from most central districts.

Thanks to its convenient location, Schönbrunn Palace is well-served by public transport: Metro (U4 line, Schönbrunn station), tram (lines 10 and 60, Schloss Schönbrunn stop), and bus (line 10A, Schloss Schönbrunn stop).

Opening Hours & Ticket Prices

Schönbrunn Palace is open every day, comprising public holidays. While it always opens at 8:30 am, closing times vary by season: 5 pm (November to March), 5:30 pm (April to June, and September to October), or 6 pm (July and August).

Schönbrunn Park opens daily at 6:30 am, with seasonal closing times as well: 5:30 pm (January, February, November, and December), 7 pm (March and October), 8 pm (April, August, and September), or 9 pm (May to July).

TIP: Before your visit, check the most up-to-date opening hours, ticket prices, and seasonal changes on the official Schönbrunn Palace website!

Ticket prices for Schönbrunn Palace depend on the type of tour. The State Apartments cost 25€ (adults) or 16€ (age 6+); the Palace Ticket is 34€ (adults) or 24€ (age 6+); the Classic Pass costs 40€ (adults) or 31€ (age 6+); and the Sisi Pass is 51€ (adults) or 33.50€ (age 6+).

What to See at Schönbrunn Palace

Schloss

Blaue Stiege

The Blue Staircase (in German, Blaue Stiege) provides access to the imperial apartments and state rooms on the main floor. Around 1745, architect Nikolaus Pacassi remodeled Joseph I’s hunting lodge dining room into a staircase, preserving only the ceiling fresco by Sebastiano Ricci from 1701/02.

The Blue Staircase shows restored gilded decorations in the window alcoves. Portraits of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Franz Joseph decorate the landing. This same landing also features busts and paintings created during the 18th and 19th-century renovations of Schönbrunn Palace.

Vorsaal

The Antechamber (in German, Vorsaal) is the first anteroom leading to the imperial couple’s private apartments on the principal floor. It contains portraits of Habsburgs important to Schönbrunn Palace’s early history: Emperor Maximilian II, Eleonora of Gonzaga, Emperor Joseph I, and Wilhelmine Amalie.

The Antechamber’s windows overlook the Schönbrunn Palace Children’s Museum, where younger visitors can explore daily court life and dress in period costumes. This room acts as a buffer zone between the Blue Staircase and the residential apartments.

Gardezimmer

The Guards Room (in German, Gardezimmer) was where guards monitored access to the emperor’s and empress’s apartments. Under Emperor Franz Joseph, elite units like the Kaiserlich-Königliche Erste Arcièrenleibgarde and Königlich Ungarische Leibgarde ensured court security.

The Guards Room contains a large ceramic stove fired from a chamber behind the wall. The palace’s thick walls hide service rooms accessed through low metal doors. Many stoves were converted to hot-air heating in the 19th century, with this system decommissioned in 1992 at Schönbrunn Palace.

Billardzimmer

The Billiard Room (in German, Billardzimmer) is the first in a sequence of private and audience rooms used by Emperor Franz Joseph. It functioned as a waiting area for guests with scheduled audiences and featured a billiard table for entertainment before evening gatherings.

The Billiard Room highlights Franz Joseph’s strong identification with the army, shown through scenes of the order’s centenary celebrations. One painting shows its first investment ceremony, while others mark the 1857 banquet at Schönbrunn Palace.

Audienzzimmer

The Emperor Franz Joseph’s Study (in German, Arbeitszimmer Franz Josephs) was the center of his daily work routine, reflecting his disciplined and austere lifestyle. He handled state correspondence at his desk, where he also ate small meals, spending most of his working hours in this room.

The Emperor Franz Joseph’s Study exhibits personal photographs and portraits of his wife Empress Elisabeth, their children, and grandchildren. A painting of Crown Prince Rudolf as a child is also present, offering a glimpse into the emperor’s private life at Schönbrunn Palace.

Arbeitszimmer Franz Josephs

The Emperor Franz Joseph’s Study (in German, Arbeitszimmer Franz Josephs) was the center of his daily work routine, reflecting his disciplined and austere lifestyle. He handled state correspondence at his desk, where he also ate small meals, spending most of his working hours in this room.

The Emperor Franz Joseph’s Study shows personal photographs and portraits of his wife Empress Elisabeth, their children, and grandchildren. A painting of Crown Prince Rudolf as a child is also present, offering a glimpse into the emperor’s private life at Schönbrunn Palace.

Ketterlzimmer

The Ketterl Room (in German, Ketterlzimmer) is located behind a concealed door in Emperor Franz Joseph’s study and was used by his valet de chambre. It’s named after Eugen Ketterl, who documented his experience serving the emperor in detailed memoirs after the fall of the monarchy.

The Ketterl Room is linked to a fourteen-person staff responsible for Franz Joseph’s personal care. Ketterl’s daily routine began at 3:30 am, assisting the emperor with dressing, breakfast, and wardrobe, while also coordinating access and preparing for audiences and receptions.

Schlafzimmer Franz Josephs

Franz Joseph’s Bedroom (in German, Schlafzimmer Franz Josephs) is preserved as it was on November 21st, 1916, the date of the emperor’s death. The plain furnishings reflect his austere lifestyle, comprehending a washstand with no running water and a flush toilet installed only in 1899.

Franz Joseph’s Bedroom contains the simple bed where he passed away at the age of eighty-six during World War I. With a painting on an easel showing him on his deathbed, this room remains part of the preserved imperial suite at Schönbrunn Palace.

Stiegenkabinett

The Stairs Cabinet (in German, Stiegenkabinett) served as Empress Elisabeth’s writing room, where she composed letters, journals, and poetry. It contains a bookcase holding part of her personal library, used during her time at Schönbrunn Palace.

Until the end of the monarchy, a cast iron spiral staircase connected the Stairs Cabinet to Elisabeth’s garden apartments below. Today, a photomontage recalls this connection, and the room presents a reproduction of Elisabeth’s posthumous portrait by Friedrich August von Kaulbach.

Toilettezimmer

The Dressing Room (in German, Toilettezimmer) was the innermost and most private room adjacent to Empress Elisabeth’s bedroom, devoted entirely to her beauty care. The monarch’s daily routine focused on maintaining her appearance, involving extensive hairdressing that took several hours each day.

The Dressing Room encompasses a concealed door that once opened onto a narrow staircase leading to the mezzanine floor above, where Empress Elisabeth’s wardrobes, sewing room, and workrooms for her personal staff were situated.

Gemeinsames Schlafzimmer

The Imperial Couple’s Bedroom (in German, Gemeinsames Schlafzimmer) was furnished and decorated for Franz Joseph and Elisabeth’s marriage in 1854. Their wedding took place in Vienna after Elisabeth’s intensive preparation for her role as empress.

The Imperial Couple’s Bedroom contains heavy palisander furniture in the Rococo Revival style. The seating and wall panels are upholstered in deep blue silk damask patterned with white floral garlands. In 2014, the textile furnishings were restored to match the room’s original appearance.

Salon der Kaiserin

The Salon of Empress Elisabeth (in German, Salon der Kaiserin) was her reception room and a prime example of Rococo Revival style at the Viennese court. It features original nineteenth-century furniture and richly patterned silk fabrics restored after conservation.

Elisabeth struggled with the rigid conventions of court life and often distanced herself from official duties. Known for her intelligence, independence, and beauty, she led an increasingly private life marked by personal tragedies, like the suicide of her son Rudolf in 1889.

Marie Antoinette Zimmer

The Marie Antoinette Room (in German, Marie Antoinette Zimmer) served as the family dining room during Empress Elisabeth’s time. It was used for informal dinners featuring traditional Viennese dishes, attended by the imperial couple, their children, and later grandchildren.

The Marie Antoinette Room is named after a tapestry that once hung here, depicting Marie Antoinette and her children. This tapestry, a gift from Napoleon III, was replaced after the Monarchy by a portrait of Franz Joseph as a young emperor at the start of his reign.

Salon der Erzherzoginnen Porträts

The Salon of the Archduchess Portraits (in German, Salon der Erzherzoginnen Porträts) was once part of Empress Elisabeth’s apartments. It now houses portraits of six of Maria Theresa’s daughters, dating back to the eighteenth century, earning it the nickname “Children’s Room.”

Maria Theresa, Franz Joseph’s great-great-grandmother, ruled from 1740 to 1780 and had sixteen children. The portraits show her daughters, often married young for political reasons. The bathroom through the door was added for Empress Zita in 1917 but never used before the monarchy ended.

Frühstückskabinett

The Breakfast Cabinet (in German, Frühstückskabinett) puts on view textile flower pictures in gilt frames by Empress Elisabeth Christine, mother of Maria Theresa. These fabric medallions decorate the walls, while small porcelain objects add color above the door and mirror.

At the center of the Breakfast Cabinet stands a breakfast table laid with porcelain from the Count Thun Manufactory in Bohemia. The porcelain comes from the former Court Silver and Table Room’s collection. The room’s charm comes from its delicate and colorful décor.

Gelber Salon

The Yellow Salon (in German, Gelber Salon) is the first room in the apartments facing the palace gardens, offering views of the Great Parterre and the Gloriette. Its white-and-gold wall panelling dates from the mid-19th century, replacing earlier colorful Chinese paper and silk hangings.

The Yellow Salon also unveils pastel portraits by Joseph Pierre Lion and Jean-Étienne Liotard of children from middling classes. The seating, dating from around 1770, shows the shift from Rococo to Louis Seize style, with silk covers restored from Maria Theresa’s time.

Balkonzimmer

The Balcony Room (in German, Balkonzimmer) displays numerous portraits of Maria Theresa and her children by court painter Martin van Meytens. The painting on the easel shows Maria Theresa with her insignia of power, surrounded by portraits of her offspring at a young age.

Maria Theresa gave birth to sixteen children between the ages of nineteen and thirty-eight, though not all survived childhood due to high mortality rates. A group portrait on the front wall portrays her three eldest sons: Joseph, Karl Joseph, and Peter Leopold.

Spiegelsaal

The Hall of Mirrors (in German, Spiegelsaal) is a Rococo state room from Empress Maria Theresa’s era, with gilt décor, white furniture, red silk damask, and large mirrors. Its furnishings were added under Emperor Franz Joseph, who saw this style as the monarchy’s golden age.

During Franz Joseph’s reign, the Hall of Mirrors hosted Public Audiences where subjects could meet the emperor briefly. The room is also famous for a 1762 concert by six-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who, after performing, famously leapt into Empress Maria Theresa’s lap and kissed her.

Grosses Rosa-Zimmer

The Large Rosa Room (in German, Grosses Rosa-Zimmer) is named after artist Joseph Rosa, who created fifteen idealized landscape paintings for the space in the 1760s. A portrait of Emperor Franz Stephan of Lorraine, Empress Maria Theresa’s husband, hangs at the center of the front wall.

Emperor Franz Stephan, more remembered as a patron of science and finance than as a ruler, founded the Schönbrunn Zoo and helped redesign the palace park, visible from the Large Rosa Room’s windows. His portrait contains objects symbolizing his artistic and scientific interests.

Erstes Kleines Rosa-Zimmer

The First Small Rosa Room (in German, Erstes Kleines Rosa-Zimmer) contains landscape paintings by Joseph Rosa, showing idealized views of Italy and the Alpine regions. These works were commissioned for Schönbrunn Palace in the 1760s.

The scenes are made up rivers, mountains, animals, and figures engaged in rural life, such as shepherds, farmers, and travelers. Joseph Rosa, who came from a family of animal painters, integrated these human and animal figures into the landscape with careful attention to detail.

Grosse Galerie

The Great Gallery (in German, Grosse Galerie) is the grand ceremonial hall of Schönbrunn Palace, with Rococo gilt stucco, towering mirrors, and ceiling frescos glorifying Empress Maria Theresa’s rule. At 43 meters long, it was ideal for court festivities and remains the palace’s architectural centerpiece.

Ceiling frescos by Gregorio Guglielmi represent the virtues of Habsburg rule, military power, and the prosperity of the Crown Lands. The Great Gallery’s 18th-century chandeliers were later electrified, and in 1961 it hosted the historic meeting between John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev.

Kleine Galerie

The Small Gallery (in German, Kleine Galerie) was used for courtly events and features elegant Rococo décor from Empress Maria Theresa’s era. White polished wall panels and rich gilding, restored in 1999/2000, create the smooth, marble-like surfaces typical of her reign.

The ceiling fresco by Gregorio Guglielmi shows Aeternitas offering the crown to the Habsburgs, symbolizing their lasting rule. Busts of Empress Maria Theresa’s daughters, Maria Karoline and Marie Antoinette, appear on opposite walls, celebrating their royal marriages.

Rundes Chinesisches Kabinett

The Round Chinese Cabinet (in German, Rundes Chinesisches Kabinett) lies half-hidden beside the Small Gallery, paired with a mirror-image cabinet opposite. Both rooms showcase exquisite collections of Chinese and Japanese art, blending lacquer panels, porcelain, and delicate decorations.

The white panelling holds gilt rocaille frames with lacquer panels in maki-e style, illustrating architecture, landscapes, and Chinese myths. Porcelain from China and Japan, Rococo chandeliers, and exotic wood floors complete the Round Chinese Cabinet decoration.

Ovales Chinesisches Kabinett

The Oval Chinese Cabinet (in German, Ovales Chinesisches Kabinett), opposite the Round Cabinet, shares similar décor but differs in shape. Empress Maria Theresa’s love for exotic Far Eastern crafts shaped its Rococo interior, with the use of lacquerware, silks, and porcelain.

These private yet magnificent rooms were used by Empress Maria Theresa and her close circle for social gatherings and card games. Her fascination extended beyond the Far East to the Ottoman Empire, reflecting the era’s cultural ties, Turkish operas, and masked balls.

Karussellzimmer

The Carousel Room (in German, Karussellzimmer) links the Great Gallery to the imperial apartments. Its paintings highlight key events, like the 1743 Ladies’ Carousel where Empress Maria Theresa showed her strength during the War of Austrian Succession.

Another painting pictures the first ceremony of the Order of Saint Stephen, founded by Empress Maria Theresa in 1764 to honor civil merit. Portraits of her parents, Emperor Charles VI and Empress Elisabeth Christine, hang on the side walls.

Zeremoniensaal

The Hall of Ceremonies (in German, Zeremoniensaal) was the Great Antechamber where Empress Maria Theresa received guests. It houses her famous portrait as the “First Lady of Europe” and paintings of Crown Prince Joseph’s 1760 wedding to Princess Isabella of Parma.

The detailed paintings in the Hall of Ceremonies portray the bridal procession, court banquets, and church ceremony. One painting features a young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, added later as a tribute despite his absence at the event.

Rösselzimmer

The Horses Room (in German, Rösselzimmer) served as a 19th-century dining room, arranged with a festively decked table to recreate the proper atmosphere. While not used by the imperial family, it hosted dinners for high-ranking court dignitaries and military officers assigned to Schönbrunn Palace.

The Horses Roomm is named for its twenty equine portraits on copper and four large stud paintings by Johann Georg von Hamilton from the early 1700s. The centerpiece shows a detailed par force hunt featuring Emperor Joseph I, for whom Schönbrunn Palace was originally built as a hunting lodge.

Vieux-Laque-Zimmer

The Vieux Laque Room (in German, Vieux-Laque-Zimmer) is one of Schönbrunn Palace’s most important interiors, with its black lacquer panels from China. Originally Emperor Franz I Stephan’s private reception room, Empress Maria Theresa made it a memorial after his death in 1765.

The Vieux Laque Room’s name comes from the black and gold lacquer panels, likely designed by architect Isidor Canevale. Empress Maria Theresa commissioned three paintings for the space, the portraits of Emperor Franz Stephan and their sons Joseph and Leopold.

Napoleonzimmer

The Napoleon Room (in German, Napoleonzimmer) was originally the bedroom of Emperor Franz I Stephan and Empress Maria Theresa. Napoleon Bonaparte likely used it during his Vienna occupations in 1805 and 1809, giving the room its actual name.

At Schönbrunn Palace, the Napoleon Room also recalls Napoleon Bonaparte’s marriage to Marie Louise, daughter of Emperor Franz I. Their son, Napoleon II Franz, grew up here. The room still holds his deathbed, pet lark, and neo-Baroque décor from the 1873 Vienna World’s Fair.

Porzellanzimmer

The Porcelain Room (in German, Porzellanzimmer) was Empress Maria Theresa’s private writing room, reflecting her personal tastes and love of chinoiserie. Its décor, partly created by her family, features blue and white carved wooden decorations imitating porcelain.

Dating from 1763/64, the Porcelain Room’s walls hold 212 blue gouache pictures depicting genre scenes, inspired by French artists François Boucher and Jean-Baptiste Pillement. Four framed medallions honor family members who contributed to the décor.

Millionenzimmer

The Millions Room (in German, Millionenzimmer) is a lavish space where Empress Maria Theresa received guests for private audiences. Its name reflects the priceless materials used in its decoration, especially the sixty Indo-Persian miniature collages set in gilded rocaille frames.

Also called the Feketin Room after its exotic palisander wood paneling, the Millions Room features mirrors, elaborate flooring, and a chandelier adorned with painted enamel flowers. A glass door offers a view into the Miniatures Cabinet, decorated with watercolours by Maria Theresa’s family.

Gobelinsalon

The Gobelin Salon (in German, Gobelinsalon) features walls and armchairs covered with valuable tapestries, each chair portraying two months and their Zodiac signs. During Empress Maria Theresa’s time, it served as an audience chamber where she received guests as hereditary heiress.

Nearly a century later, Archduchess Sophie used the Gobelin Salon as her reception area, furnished in Biedermeier and Rococo Revival styles with family portraits emphasizing her son Franz Joseph’s claim to the throne. Later, the room was decorated with Brussels tapestries, giving it its current name.

Schreibzimmer Erzherzogin Sophie

The Archduchess Sophie’s Study (in German, Schreibzimmer Erzherzogin Sophie) was part of Emperor Franz Joseph’s parents’ mid-19th-century apartments. Archduchess Sophie decorated it in Rococo Revival style with family portraits and mementos from Empress Maria Theresa’s era.

Empress Maria Theresa used the Archduchess Sophie’s Study as her private library during widowhood. Hidden bookcases behind the wall panelling have hinges disguised in the decorative mouldings, blending seamlessly with the Rococo design.

Roter Salon

The Red Salon (in German, Roter Salon) exhibits portraits of three Habsburg generations, from Empress Maria Theresa to Emperor Franz Joseph I. It opens with Emperor Leopold II, who ruled briefly after his brother Joseph II died without heirs.

The Red Salon highlights Emperor Franz II, who declared himself Emperor of Austria after dissolving the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. Also shown is his daughter Maria Leopoldine, wife of Brazil’s emperor Dom Pedro and a revered figure in Brazil’s independence.

Ostterrassenkabinett

The Eastern Terrace Cabinet (in German, Ostterrassenkabinett), also known as the Flower Cabinet, is one of Schönbrunn Palace’s most cheerful rooms. It overlooks the “cour d’honneur” and features a French window leading to a terrace above the arcades connecting the main building and wings.

The Eastern Terrace Cabinet, once used by Archduchess Sophie and Archduke Karl, was decorated with pot plants and pale upholstery. A notable Rococo fresco on the ceiling represents putti playing amid trompe l’oeil architecture, while flower garlands painted by Johann Zagelmann adorn the walls.

Reiches Zimmer

The Rich Room (in German, Reiches Zimmer) showcases Empress Maria Theresa’s state bed, a masterpiece of Baroque textile art made of red velvet with gold and silver embroidery. Originally part of the imperial couple’s bedchamber in the Vienna Hofburg, the entire set of textiles has survived.

After World War II, the bed was removed from the Hofburg apartments and moved to Schönbrunn Palace in 1980. It was later restored and is now showed in a protective case, flanked by portraits of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Franz Stephan, including a lifelike one by Jean-Étienne Liotard.

Schreibzimmer von Erzherzog Franz Karl

The Study of Archduke Franz Karl (in German, Schreibzimmer von Erzherzog Franz Karl) puts on view portraits of Empress Maria Theresa’s family, such as a famous painting by Martin van Meytens of Empress Maria Theresa, Emperor Franz Stephan, and eleven of their sixteen children.

Opposite the family portrait are paintings of key women in her life—her mother Elisabeth Christine and governess Countess Fuchs—along with portraits of her sister Maria Anna, brother-in-law Alexander of Lorraine, and smaller family scenes by her children and in-laws.

Salon von Erzherzog Franz Karl

The Salon of Archduke Franz Karl (in German, Salon von Erzherzog Franz Karl) features life-size portraits of Empress Maria Theresa’s children and was part of the apartments he occupied from 1835 until his death in 1878.

After Emperor Franz Joseph’s death, the Salon of Archduke Franz Karl was redecorated in the Rococo Revival style, with white-and-gold paneling and red silk damask wall hangings. These apartments were used for visiting dignitaries and were occasionally open to the public until the end of the monarchy.

Jagdzimmer

The Hunting Room (in German, Jagdzimmer) features one of the earliest paintings of Schönbrunn Palace as Emperor Joseph I’s hunting lodge, like Johann Georg Hamilton’s Partridges before Schönbrunn Palace, which shows the lodge before Empress Maria Theresa’s remodeling.

The Hunting Room also presents paintings and objects related to hunting, highlighting the dynasty’s passion for the sport. Among the portraits are Emperor Franz Stephan as a boy, Empress Maria Theresa’s parents Emperor Charles VI and Empress Elisabeth Christine, and Emperor Franz Joseph.

Park

Grosses Parterre

The Great Parterre (in German, Grosses Parterre) is the largest open space in the gardens, located in front of the Schönbrunn Palace’s south side. It originally featured symmetrical box-hedge patterns called ‘broderie’ parterres and sunken lawns known as ‘boulingrins.’

On either side are boskets—clipped hedges forming paths and hidden areas. The current design from the 1770s by Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg incoporates flower beds and tall hedges lined with marble statues mostly by Christian Wilhelm Beyer.

Neptunbrunnen

The Neptune Fountain (in German, Neptunbrunnen), completed in 1780, crowns the Great Parterre Sculpted by Wilhelm Beyer, it shows the Greek god Neptune in a shell chariot with sea gods, Tritons, and hippocampi, symbolizing imperial power over nature.

Set against a curving balustrade wall, the Neptune Fountain’s rocky grotto comprises Neptune holding a trident, Thetis pleading for her son Achilles, and mythical sea creatures sounding conch trumpets. This imagery reflects the ruler’s command over fate, echoing themes common in Baroque art.

Gloriette

The Gloriette, designed by Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg in 1775, sits atop the hill above Schönbrunn Palace. It has a central triumphal arch with arcaded wings and an imperial eagle on a globe, incorporating Renaissance elements from the unfinished Neugebäude palace.

Glazed under Empress Maria Theresa, the hall became a dining room before its glazing was removed in 1926. After World War II damage, it was restored and reglazed in 1994–95. Decorated with sculptures by Hagenauer and Henrici, it now houses Café Gloriette with park views.

Obeliskbrunnen

The Obelisk Fountain (in German, Obeliskbrunnen) at Schönbrunn Hill’s foot marks the eastern avenue’s end. Built in 1777 by Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg, it features Benedikt Henrici’s sculptures of river gods, turtles, and an obelisk topped with a golden sun sphere and eagle.

The Obelisk Fountain rests on turtles symbolizing stability and is decorated with fake hieroglyphs telling the Habsburg dynasty’s story. It represents the sun’s rays and cardinal directions, symbolizing princely steadfastness, while the eagle atop signifies the ruler’s link between heaven and earth.

Römische Ruine

The Roman Ruin (in German, Römische Ruine), originally called the Ruin of Carthage, was built in 1778 by Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg. Inspired by Roman architecture, it features a crumbling arch, relief-covered walls, and a pool with statues of the river gods Danube and Enns.

The Roman Ruin, referencing Rome’s victory over Carthage, symbolized the Habsburgs’ connection to the Roman Empire. A path behind the arch once featured a terraced cascade leading to statues of Hercules defeating mythological beasts, reinforcing themes of strength, virtue, and imperial legacy.

Kronprinzengarten

The Privy Garden (in German, Kronprinzengarten) on the Schönbrunn Palace’s east side dates to around 1750 and has been called the Crown Prince Garden since 1865. Its sheltered spot makes it ideal for summer citrus unveils, and it features sunken parterres bordered by flower beds.

Beside the Privy Garden, the Garden on the Cellar sits above 1700s-era cellars and is framed by a horseshoe-shaped pergola with five trellis pavilions. Its centerpiece is a restored “parterre de broderie” with box patterns and an octagonal pool.

Orangerie und Weingarten

The Orangerie and Citron House (in German, Orangerie und Weingarten), built in 1754 by Nikolaus Pacassi, is one of the world’s largest Baroque orangeries. Stretching 189 meters, it has vaulted ceilings, a hypocaust heating system, and an adjoining semicircular Citron House for tropical plants.

In front of the Orangerie and Citron House is a restored vineyard, once called “Liesenpfennig”. Planted with Wiener Gemischter Satz, a traditional Viennese field blend, it spans 1,000 square meters. The wine produced here is auctioned annually for the benefit of SOS Children’s Villages.

Tiergarten

The Zoo (in German, Tiergarten) was founded in the mid-1700s by Emperor Franz I Stephan as a menagerie with thirteen enclosures around a central pavilion. It opened to the public in 1779 and grew to incorporate exotic animals like elephants and giraffes.

By the late 1800s, the Zoo underwent major modernization to improve animal welfare and visitor experience. By 1914, it reached its largest collection, housing 3,470 animals from around the world. Today, it’s one of the world’s oldest zoos, blending history with modern care.

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Where Do I Make My Reservations?

• Hotels and Accommodation: Booking.com
• Tours and Activities: GetYourGuide

What Photography Gear Do I Use?

• Camera Body: Fujifilm X-T4 Mirrorless
• Camera Lens: Fujinon XF 18-55 mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS
• Tripod: Manfrotto Compact Action
• Small Tripod: Manfrotto PIXI Mini
• Smartphone Adaptor: Manfrotto PIXI Clamp
• Memory Card: SanDisk 128GB Extreme PRO SDXC