Schloss Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H.

Imperial attractions – visitor magnets

Schönbrunn Palace is one of the most renowned Baroque complexes in Europe. Since separating  from the State Administration in 1992, the financial means for preserving and revitalising the palace derive exclusively from self-generated revenue. The operating company Schloss Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H. (SKB) has managed to increase turnover continuously since its starting operations and has made the World Heritage Site into Austria’s number one tourist attraction.

Since separating from the Federal Administration in 1992, the Schloss Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H., through tactful and customer-friendly commercial utilisation, has had the task of generating the financial means for the preservation and revitalisation of Schönbrunn Palace without any support from outside. Because of its immediate success, the Republic of Austria issued a lease contract in 1994 for the Imperial Apartments in the Vienna Hofburg, in 1995 the Imperial Silver Collection, also in the Hofburg, and in 1998 the Imperial Hofmobiliendepot – the Imperial Furniture Collection on Mariahilferstrasse in Vienna’s seventh district.

Throughout all activities, priority is given to taking the greatest possible care of the historic substance. The management is keen to achieve a sensitive integration of modern tourism structures when implementing options relating to culture, tourism and leisure activities. The Schloss Schönbrunn GmbH bases its management of thousands of daily visitors on the best possible service and security. This is supported by an electronic ticketing system and – unique in Europe – a training programme for the staff, currently numbering  231 people.

 

Schloss Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H.
Schönbrunner Schlossstrasse 47
undefined Vienna
Fax: +43-1-812 11 06
+43-1-811 13-0
http://www.schoenbrunn.at/
info@schoenbrunn.at

 

 

Standorte

Schönbrunn Palace

Schönbrunn: Imperial attractions in the palace and gardens

The World Heritage Site Schönbrunn Palace is the most frequented tourist attraction in Austria. The residential and official rooms in the palace, all designed true to the originals, give an authentic impression of the Imperial lifestyle. Along with the surrounding gardens, Schönbrunn takes its place as a unique Baroque Gesamtkunstwerk – a total work of art – and is moreover a vital recreational area for the Viennese.

It passed to the ownership of the Republic of Austria at the end of the monarchy and was opened to the public. Since separating from the Federal Administration in 1992, the Schloss Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H., through tactful and customer-friendly commercial utilisation, has been self-supporting. Palace and garden extend over 1.5 km2 and are visited by 8-9 million people every year.

Out of a total of 1,441 rooms in the entire palace complex, 40 ceremonial rooms in the main building are open for viewing. The tour starts with the nineteenth-century residential rooms of Emperor Franz Joseph and his consort Elisabeth in the palace west wing and goes on through the official rooms in the centre part (also called “Staatstrakt”) and then to the resplendent visitors’ apartments. Concluding the tour is the so-called Franz Karl apartment, occupied by the parents of Franz Joseph – Archduchess Sophie and Archduke Franz Karl. A children’s museum has been set up on the ground floor, in part adorned with frescoes by Johann Wenzel Bergl. This is an opportunity for large and small to have fun experiencing life in Imperial times by touching and trying out all kinds of things.

The garden has historically authentic buildings for visitors to admire, the Gloriette, the Neptune Fountain, the Roman Ruins – and new sites, mostly conceived after historical models, including the maze and the Crown Prince Garden.

The maze, labyrinth and Labyrinthikon playground comprise a total area of around 7,000 m2 including adventure apparatus – an irresistible invitation to a world of discovery.

 

Schönbrunn Palace
Schönbrunner Schlossstraße 47
1130 Wien
Fax: +43-1-812 11 06
+43-1-811 13-0

 

Hofburg - Imperial Apartments & Sisi Museum & Silver Collection

The Vienna Hofburg: on Sisi’s trail, Imperial home living and husbandry

The Vienna Hofburg was the centre of the Habsburg Empire for several centuries. Three museum attractions provide an historically authentic view into Court tradition and everyday life: the Imperial Apartments, designed true to the originals, the intimate and emotional  presentation in the Sisi Museum and the Imperial Silver Cabinet – all together a wide-ranging collection of Imperial utility objects and commodities.

The Schloss Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H. has been running the Imperial Apartments in the Hofburg since 1994. Of the former official and residential rooms, today 19 rooms can be viewed where Emperor Franz Joseph and his consort Elisabeth lived. Supported by intensive scholarly research, the Schloss Schönbrunn GmbH has succeeded in giving the rooms their original character once more. The furnishing of the private quarters reflects Emperor Franz Joseph’s modesty; it is austere, yet conveys a certain Imperial illustriousness without being extravagant.

Highlights of the tour include the study where Franz Joseph surrounded himself with many pictures and souvenirs of his family, the toilette and gymnastic room of the beauty-conscious Sisi, or the banqueting hall with a table decked out with original tableware and adornments.

The Sisi Museum has been housed since 2004 in the Stephan Apartment, named after Archduke Stephan Viktor. A multitude of Elisabeth’s personal items convey the true personality of the much maligned empress. Prof. Rolf Langenfass, the renowned stage designer, has prepared a sensitive scenario oriented on the empress’s personal poems and illustrating how the carefree girl Sisi became a restless, unapproachable and depressive woman.

Among the 300 exhibits and more in the museum we find sunshades, fans and gloves of the reclusive Elisabeth, beauty recipes, her death mask, the assassin’s file – otherwise kept under lock and key – a reconstruction of Sisi’s wedding-eve party and a partial reconstruction of her luxurious Court Salon Carriage.

The Imperial Silver Collection on the ground floor holds the largest exhibition collection in the world related to the culture of a courtly household. The artefacts come from the inventory of the former Hofsilber- und Tafelkammer – the Court Silver and Table Chamber – exquisite single pieces used by members of the Imperial Household and also entire ensembles, an impressive ilustration of the Imperial Household’s wealth. The show extends over an area of 1,310 m2; 7,000 items include cooking pans from the court kitchen, baking tins from the Court Confectionery, table linen, glass services, table silver, porcelain and centrepieces of gilt bronze – an amazing variety of preserved utility objects and artefacts.

Special highlights include the personal “Mundzeug” – the eating implement set – of Empress Maria Theresa, the golden table service of Napoleon I, the Minton dessert service (a gift of Queen Victoria to Emperor Franz Joseph), Empress Elisabeth’s  portable travelling service and the Imperial sanitary ware, bourdalous and chamber pots.

 

Opening hours

The Hofburg – Imperial Apartments/ Sisi Museum / Silver Collection are open daily – also on public holidays!

September to June 9 am - 5.30 pm
July and August 9 am - 6 pm

 

Hofburg - Imperial Apartments & Sisi Museum & Silver Collection
Michaelerkuppel
1010 Wien
Fax: +43-1-533 75 70-33
+43-1-533 75 70

 

Hofmobiliendepot - Imperial Furniture Collection

The Imperial Furniture Collection – one of the most unique furniture museums in the world

Founded by Empress Maria Theresa for the storage of Habsburg furnishings, the Imperial Furniture Collection has grown to become the largest furniture collection in the world. As well as offering unique views of Imperial home living, the collection also presents an overview of the development of Austrian furniture design in the twentieth century.

Originally the imperial-royal depository of moveables, its function as such has been retained. Though still in charge of the preservation and upkeep of furnishings from the Imperial era, it also furnishes state receptions and the offices of top politicians. Traditional handicraft techniques are still used in the restoration workshops. In 1924, the first show collection was opened, hence establishing a unique blend of store facility, workshop, administration and museum.

As part of the general refurbishment in 1993, two neighbouring buildings of the old storage building were purchased, increasing the exhibition area to 6,000 m2. The architect Alessandro Alverà remodelled the buildings and connected them up. Event facilities were added besides the exhibition rooms The lecture hall on the ground floor also holds a particular highlight of the collection: the Egyptian Cabinet, last record of the grandiose Empire Apartment commissioned for the Hofburg by Empress Ludovica in the early nineteenth century.

At the re-opening in 1998 the management of the museum was entrusted to the Schloss Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H.. Since its enlargement and remodelling in the 1990s, the former “lumber room of the monarchy” has become one of the most attractive furniture museums in the world.

The core collection is made up of the former original furnishings of the Habsburgs from Schönbrunn Palace, the Hofburg, Belvedere, Laxenburg and Schloss Hof. Furniture, room decorations and apartments are arranged in relation to the individual members of the Imperial House for whom they were made. The collection amounts to a round total of 160, 000 items, of which 6,000 or so are exhibited in the museum.

The museum owes its holdings of the largest Biedermeier collection in the world to the first Austrian Emperor Franz II/I, who provided  the basis. From the former show collection, 15 booths devoted to Biedermeier home design have been adopted into the new concept as “museum in the museum”. Furthermore, visitors can have a look “backstage” through a walk-in depot, with historic furniture display platforms from the time around 1930.

The agenda of the Imperial Furniture Collection is not exclusively devoted to the presentation of  Imperial furniture, however. A major role in the work of the curators is played by the research into the art of Austrian furniture, ranging over the Biedermeier and historical revival eras, Viennese Modernism and contemporary design, and also by the collection of appropriate pieces.

To respond to the interest of international visitors in Empress Elisabeth and the world-famous Sissi films by Ernst Marischka from the 1950s, in 2006 the exhibition “Sissi in the Movies” was integrated into the museum. The exhibition showcases film footage in several languages and original props, which the Imperial Furniture Collection placed at the disposal of the film production. A so-called Sis(s)i Path – Sisi, the Empress, and Sissi the actress – takes you through the museum and gives you a wealth of information on the players, the director, the locations and of course the historic personage featured in the film, Empress Elisabeth.

Supplementing the regular museum operations, the museum presents numerous special exhibitions on architects and designers.

 

Opening hours

Tuesday to Sunday 10 am – 6 pm

 

Hofmobiliendepot - Imperial Furniture Collection
Andreasgasse 7
1070 Wien
Fax: +43-1-524 33 57-666
+43-1-524 33 57