Wandering Carol tours Vienna: Titillating Schonbrunn Palace facts

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If you’re travelling to Vienna, and want to visit Schonbrunn Palace, one of the city’s top sights, here are some fun Schonbrunn Palace facts you might want to know.

Some might say the Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa was a battle axe. Then again, she abolished serfdom, ruled Austria, Hungary and Bohemia for 40 years (1740 to 1780) and fought fiercely to keep her crown, so let’s cut her some slack.

And while we’re at it, let’s think about why men are never called battle axes. And let’s think about what a battle axe really is: powerful, intimidating and brutally effective. So feel free to call me a battle axe anytime. 

Now let’s get back to Wandering Carol tours Vienna and the 9 titillating Schonbrunn Palace facts below. 

 

Maria Theresa’s soft side

In addition to ruling the Habsburg Empire with nerves of steel, Maria Theresa had a soft spot. That soft spot was Schonbrunn Palace, or Schloss Schönbrunn.

In 1743 she undertook the task of completing the unfinished Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna. And once it was finished, her next pet project was to renovate Schonbrunn Palace. Over and over again.

This took forever and cost piles of money but Maria Theresa obviously did a bang up job because today Schonbrunn Palace is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site and the most visited attraction in Austria.

 

And if everyone else who tours Vienna is going to the palace, so should you. Here are some titillating Schonbrunn Palace facts to show you why. (Well, maybe they’re not all that titillating but I did my best.)

Titillating Schonbrunn Palace Facts: #1 – The Room of Millions

The Room of Millions, dripping tip to toe in priceless Indian and Persian miniatures, is one of the finest examples of the Rococo style known to mankind.

 

 

Titillating Schonbrunn Palace Facts: #2 – The Blue Chinese Salon

The Blue Chinese Salon is where, with one sad flourish, Emperor Charles I signed his abdication in 1918, ending 640 years of Habsburg rule in Austria and sounding the death knell of the monarchy.

Possibly Titillating Schonbrunn Palace Facts: #3 – The Maze of Schonbrunn

On a happier note, you can follow the footsteps, literally, of the Imperial family by strolling (or lost) in the Maze at Schonbrunn, a geometric maze that dates back to 1698 and was restored to its former hedge-y glory in 1908.

Bonus Fact:

You can also watch others get lost in the Maze at Schonbrunn by standing on a special lookout platform created just for this reason.

 

Titillating Schonbrunn Palace Facts: #4 – The Great Gallery

In the Great Gallery, under the sumptuous Italian ceiling frescos, John F. Kennedy had a legendary meeting with the Russian head of state Nikita Khrushchev. (Admittedly it would be more titillating if Kennedy had met Marilyn Monroe here but I can’t just make things up. Still, this was the Cold War. This was EPIC.)

Titillating Schonbrunn Palace Facts: #5 – Napoleon

Napoleon slept here. In the Napoleon room. Really.

Titillating Schonbrunn Palace Facts: #6 – The Palm House

With 45,000 panes of glass, the Palm House in Schonbrunn’s Palace Park is the largest palm house on the European continent. (Don’t know what a palm house is? Don’t worry. I didn’t either. It’s a greenhouse.)

 

 

Titillating Schonbrunn Palace Facts: #7 – The Marie Antoinette Room

You can visit the Marie Antoinette Room, which is actually a dining room. It was named after Marie Antoinette because of a tapestry of her and her children that once hung here. It was a gift from Napoleon III.

And if anyone ever wants to know what to get me for my birthday, a 19th century tapestry of Marie Antoinette will do nicely.

 

Titillating Schonbrunn Palace Facts: #8 – Imperial Coach Collection

You can trace the tracks of the Empress Sisi, the Lady Di of the 19th century, though her carriages.

If you have Sisimania and are fascinated by the life of this tragic beautiful empress (who did not rule with an iron fist and has never been called a battle axe), you can trace her life through the carriages in the Imperial Coach Collection, which, in my humble opinion, is a unique way to explore someone’s life. You will see:

• The carriage Sisi rode in as an imperial bride
• The golden carriage she was driven to her coronation in
• The carriage Sisi rode in just before being assassinated in Geneva
• Saddest of all, the hearse that carried her to her grave

 

Last of the Titillating Schonbrunn Palace Facts: #9 – The Hall of Mirrors

In the Hall of Mirrors, six-year old Mozart gave a concert for Empress Maria Theresa and her family. It was the beginning of his meteoric rise and I’m sure it was titillating, especially for him.