Schönbrunn Palace (German: Schloss Schönbrunn) is a former imperial 1,441-room Rococo summer residence in modern Vienna, Austria. One of the most important cultural monuments in the country, since the 1960s it has been one of the major tourist attractions in Vienna. The palace and gardens illustrate the tastes, interests, and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs.
Early history
Katterburg and Gonzaga's palace near Wien river in 1672. In the background the hill of later Gloriette.
Schönbrunn from the front side, painted by Canaletto in 1758.
In the year 1569, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II purchased a large floodplain of the Wien river beneath a hill, situated between Meidling and Hietzing, where a former owner, in 1548, had erected a mansion called Katterburg. The emperor ordered the area to be fenced and put game there such as pheasants, ducks, deer and boar, in order to serve as the court's recreational hunting ground. In a small separate part of the area, "exotic" birds such as turkeys and peafowl were kept. Fishponds were built, too.
The name Schönbrunn (meaning "beautiful spring"), has its roots in an artesian well from which water was consumed by the court.
During the next century, the area was used as a hunting and recreation ground. Especially Eleonora Gonzaga, who loved hunting, spent much time there and was bequeathed the area as her widow's residence after the death of her husband, Ferdinand II. From 1638 to 1643, she added a palace to the Katterburg mansion, while in 1642 came the first mention of the name "Schönbrunn" on an invoice. The origins of the Schönbrunn orangery seem to go back to Eleonora Gonzaga as well.
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1. One of the most important cultural monuments in the country
2. The emperor ordered the area to be fenced and put game
3. During the next century, the area was used as a hunting
4. From 1638 to 1643, she added a palace to the Katterburg mansion
5. The origins of the Schönbrunn orangery seem to go back
Hirschau
The English Garden is divided into two portions by the busy Isarring road. The southern part is around 2 km long, while the northern part, called the Hirschau, is around 3 km long. In contrast to the southern part, which on sunny days contains as many people as one would find in a medium-sized town, the Hirschau has a peaceful character. In the southern part the grass in the open expanses (heavily used for sport and sunbathing) must be kept short; but in the Hirschau some meadows are allowed to grow and mown for hay in June and August, while others are used as pasture for sheep. Two beer gardens, the "Aumeister", built in 1810-11 by the court mason (Hofmaurermeister) Joseph Deiglmayr (17601814) and the "Hirschau", built in 1840, are located at the north and south end of the Hirschau respectively.
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The northern part of the garden also contains a small amphitheatre, built in 1985 and called the new amphitheatre. (An amphitheatre built in 1793 to a similar plan, but in a different position, a little north of the Rumford-Saal, has not survived; this had been used primarily for fireworks exhibitions). The new amphitheatre is used for open air performances in summer. To the east the Hirschau's border is formed by the Isar, which can be crossed at the Oberföhring dam, built between 1920 and 1924, and at the Emmeram Bridge, a wooden pedestrian bridge first built in 1978. The bridge was destroyed by arson in 2002, and replaced by a new design in 2004.
