Schlosshof

A while back...more like a month and a half ago...Nico's parents took us to a lovely place called Schlosshof. It's about an hour drive outside of Vienna and lies on the border of Austria and Slovakia. It has a palace in that same lovely yellow as Schönbrunn, a beautiful garden and a farm. We really lucked out with a nice sunny day to visit. I really enjoyed walking around the farm area and the gardens. Despite it being spring, there were still quite a few lovely flowers and herb gardens to see. Also, it was easy to convince me to go; they have llamas and goats. We also had a delicious lunch on a terrace overlooking part of the farm. After our little outing there,  I became really interested in the history of the place. For example, who lived here with this insane garden looking out towards the Morava River? What was this palace used for? So, here's your little history lesson!

The history of the palace prior to 1725 is pretty bleak. In the 12th century it was mentioned as a fortress courtyard. It changed ownership throughout the years but of course when royalty became involved, it was of more importance. It eventually was bought by Prince Eugene of Savoy (in 1725). He was one of the most successful and wealthiest generals in Austrian history. His lovely French people deemed him unfit for a military career so he fled to Austria looking for a position with the military. Now, Prince Eugene already had a splendid summer palace in Vienna called Belvedere (which now houses the famous Klimt painting 'The Kiss'), as well as a palace closer to the Imperial family. He bought Schlosshof to use another summer palace/hunting grounds. The palace stayed in his hands until his death in 1736, at which time it was inherited by his niece. She later lost it in a divorce.

In 1755, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria (the only female to rule Austria, also the mother of famed Marie Antoinette) purchased it as a gift for her husband. It continued to be used as a hunting lodge and as an escape from life at court. After the Emperor passed away, Maria Theresa decided to add a second storey to the building to create more space for her, her children (she had 16 total) and all the servants.

After her death, the emperors and archdukes that followed didn't care much for Schlosshof and let nature do her thing. In 1898, Franz Josef (second to last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian empire) started using the grounds as a military training camp. It continued to be used for military purposes (it was a fortress after all, remember?) throughout the second world war when it was occupied by the Red Army. After the mid 1950's no one took much notice of the palace. Nature had done her thing as well as the different militaries  that occupied the grounds and left the palace in not such a pretty state. Many people wanted it restored but it wasn't until 2002 that funding was found for such a big project. It was reopened to the public in 2005.  

I hope you enjoyed reading a little about Austrian culture and history. Even after being away from this great country for 2 years, I am still fascinated by its history.