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| A trip to Vienna's Schonbrunn Palace in October |
Schonbrunn Palace is an impressive Viennese residence, the summer home to the Habsburgs, and filled with original paintings and ornate furnishings from the Austrian royal family. But, up until this year, sadly, I had never heard of it - unlike the more well-known French royal abode, Versailles. However, after visiting Schonbrunn in October, I found it to be incredibly beautiful with ties to not only the Habsburg dynasty, but Versailles as well, which we visited in 2008.
As part of our Blue Danube cruise this fall, we spent a few days in Vienna and opted for the Schonbrunn Palace tour. We were so glad we did - truly one of the highlights and I learned more about European history that I can remember from any high school or college classes. Specifically, I got schooled on the story of the Habsburg summer palace and its connections to other royal residences, including Versailles.
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| The garden side of Schonbrunn Palace |
Like Versailles, Schonbrunn was once a hunting retreat: the later estate came to the Habsburg in the mid-16th century via Maximillian II and, after his death, it passed on to his son Rudolph II, who used it as a hunting ground. In 1612, he was said to have discovered a "fair spring" (in German, "schnoner brunnen"), which eventually gave the site its name. Just five years earlier, as noted in Chateau Versailles' history, the future King Louis XIII, first became acquainted with the famed French palace's grounds as a young boy, in 1607, also on a hunting excursion. It would be the next few generations of each family, however, that would build both royal homes to the grandeur we see today.
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| Versailles(2008) - the French chateau, like Schonbrunn, was once a hunting locale for royals |
Schonbrunn's opulence began under the direction of Empress Maria Theresa when her father, Charles VI gifted it to her in 1736. She reigned over Austria from 1740 -1780 (give or take a few other countries/empires here and there) and, along with her husband, Francis I, she had sixteen children. While supervising the restructuring of Schonbrunn, she was also the great political power of the Austrian couple. One of her strategies to keep peace among the many empires was to marry off her children to regal spouses in other countries. During her forty year rule, Maria Theresa was pregnant for half of it and still managed to oversee a country and expand Schonbrunn.
Even Maria Theresa's rival, the Prussian Emperor was said to have remarked, "When at last the Habsburgs get a great man, it's a woman."
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| The "mirror hall" of Schonbrunn is not unlike Versailles's Hall of Mirrors. |
Maria Theresa augmented Schonbrunn to not only accommodate her growing family, but also compete with other royal residences, including Versailles. Rooms were ornately gilded and flocked, much like the French estate, but perhaps, the biggest "lift", is seen in Schonbrunn's "mirror hall", looking very much like the "Hall of Mirrors" at Versailles.
But, the strongest tie to the two palaces was the royal match of King Louis XVI to Maria Theresa's daughter, Maria Antonia, better known to the world as, Marie Antoinette.
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| Adding to my Marie Antoinette collection: a picture from Rachel's visit to Paris, a copy of her china from Bernardaud in NYC and now, postcard of her childhood home |
That was a connection I hadn't put together until we walked the halls of Schonbrunn. The young French Queen of the famed "Let them eat cake" decree (which, whether she really said that, has been heavily disputed) spent her formative years at Hofburg Palace (the family's home in "downtown" Vienna) and Schonbrunn.
After Maria Theresa's death, Schonbrunn had a number of eclectic and eccentric residents, including Napolean Bonaparte, who, after divorcing his first wife, Josephine, married the grand niece of Marie Antoinette.
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| The gardens of Schonbrunn |
The crazy pair-ups could easily play out in a "Real Related HouseQueens of Austria". Consider one of the later pairings in the mix, the marriage of the penultimate Austrian Emperor, Franz Joseph. His mother had selected his bride, her niece, Helene, from Munich. When Franz Jospeph first met Helene, who was accompanied by her mother (his aunt), and younger sister, Elisabeth, he took matters into his own hands. Franz Joseph overrode his mother's pre-selection and chose Elisabeth instead who, by portraits and other written accounts, was the great beauty of her time.
Franz Joseph's style was much less ostentatious than some of his predecessors and his spaces reflect a quiet elegance. Both he and Elisabeth's (widely known as "Sisi") rooms are also part of the Schonbrunn tour (Napoleon's, too!)
The last emperor, Karl, abdicated in 1918. One year later, once again, the French palace was tied to Austria with the Treaty of Versailles. As part of that agreement, Germany was to sever all ties with Austria. That held . . . for awhile.
The connections to the royal families and their palaces of Europe are as fascinating as they are complex.
It's time to take a break with something else from Schonbrunn: Vienna tea from its gift shop!
Stay tuned to Schonbrunn Palace, Part II, where we actually talk more about the many rooms inside.
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| Vienna tea, from one of the gift shops at Schonbrunn. |
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