Palais Schönburg: A Baroque Garden Palace in Vienna
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Austria
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- Habsburg, Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Elite Residence
On this page7 sections
History
Starhemberg origins and Baroque construction
Palais Schönburg is a Baroque garden palace in Vienna, Austria, commissioned by Gundaker Thomas Starhemberg in 1705–1706 and designed by Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt, a prominent architect of the Baroque style in the Habsburg lands. The site had belonged to the Starhemberg family since 1450. Baroque architecture was an early-modern European style known for monumental compositions, theatrical spatial effects, and richly articulated forms.
Gundaker Thomas Starhemberg, who was known as a financial expert, established the palace during the family’s long association with the property. The building is also known as Palais Schönburg-Hartenstein and Palais Starhemberg-Schönburg.
Nineteenth-century alterations
In 1811, the palace passed to Joseph Nepomuk, Count Keglevich de Buzin. He commissioned alterations and an enlargement from the architect Franz Jäger. Around 1841, the Schönburg-Hartenstein family acquired the building and remodeled its rooms. The library was left unchanged during this work.
Ownership, deterioration, and restoration
During the 1970s, two of the three heirs sold their shares to Conti-Bank. After the bank’s bankruptcy, Marian and Danek Gertner, entrepreneurs involved in machine trading, took over the palace. A partition lawsuit led the remaining Schönburg heir to relinquish her interest in 1979.
The Gertners spent decades seeking to convert the palace into a hotel through extensions and alterations. Monument-protection requirements, together with opposition from civic initiatives and neighboring residents to enlarging the side wings, prevented the plan from succeeding, and the building continued to deteriorate. Following a generational transfer within the Gertner family, comprehensive renovation began at the start of the twenty-first century. The palace was largely restored to its original state and adapted for use as an event venue.
Work in 2007–2008 restored the facade and roof and revitalized the surrounding park. The Federal Monuments Office and the Vienna Old Town Preservation Fund provided financial support. Since July 2008, the palace, its individual rooms, and the garden have been available for event rental. Palais Schönburg is listed in Austria as a protected historic monument.
Remains
Plan and entrance
The palace has an elongated rectangular plan, extended along its central axis toward the forecourt by a transverse oval. Its broad vestibule occupies more than one-third of the facade and rises to a high attic. The vestibule was originally open to the exterior through three large round-arched gateways separated by paired pilasters. These openings have since been closed.
Staircases and grand hall
Two staircase arms were inserted into the vestibule on either side and lead upward to the grand hall. The palace also contains two narrow spiral staircases. The steps of all the stair installations are made from hard Kaiserstein, a limestone historically quarried at Kaisersteinbruch and used for demanding architectural elements such as stair treads. A sphinx serves as a gate guardian.
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