Schonbrunn

Today we visited the Schonbrunn, which was the Habsburgs pleasure palace starting from the 17th century. It was destroyed during the Second Turkish Siege on Vienna. The Turkish siege lasted for 2 months in 1683. The Ottomans eventually retreated in September 1683 after taking over Vienna in July. The Ottomans wanted to overtake Vienna due to its strategic location on the Danube and in Central Europe, also because it was the residence of the most influential empire in all of Europe, the Habsburgs. However, the Turks left before the fall of winter due to the cold. This was very helpful for Leopold I, king at the time, because it helped him to rally the people behind him and Catholicism, somewhat like a crusade against the Muslim Turks (Beller, 71).
Since its destruction, Maria Theresia had it remodeled in Rococo style. The Schonbrunn greatly represents the outwardly lavish and opulent lifestyle the Habsburgs lived. The palace is painted with a rich gold color, called Schonbrunn geld, to represent wealth and stature. The gardens in the back of the palace are of the Neo-Classical, French style with a very geometric and manicured look. The garden contains a large fountain with great Ancient Greek like statues and there is a great gloriet built on top of a hill with magnificent views. The Schonnbrunn garden is complete with its very own zoo, containing many exotic animals. This zoo was here even during Maria Theresia’s time. Just as in Vienna: A Cultural History, Parsons writes about the Habsburgs obsession with the exotic and used their wealth to obtain foreign objects to woo their subjects, for instance: their obsessions with elephants.
At the start of the tour of the inside of the Schonbrunn, you start by observing Franz Josef’s quarters. He was a very practical and hardworking king. His rooms were very simple and practical. There were very few displays of lavishness or splendor. Fran Josef was said to have started working before five in the morning, even having breakfast and lunch served to him at his desk. He was a family man, with pictures of his wife Sisi and children adorning his study and desk.
His wife, Sisi; however, was not as frugal or practical. All of her rooms were decorated lavishly with silk walls, gold thread, and many opulent chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. It is said that Sisi did not adore Franz Josef the way he adored her. She would often be out of Vienna traveling and would never join the family for dinner so that she could keep her slendor figure. This demonstrates the need of the Habsburgs to keep up with outward appearances. This is especially evident in the rooms in which they receive guests. For instance the Great Gallery, where they held balls, receptions, and banquets was an enormous 40 meter long room with amazing detailed frescoes on the ceiling and hanging from it two large, decadent, gilded chandeliers.
The Schonbrunn is mostly decorated with paintings either of family, landscapes, or royal processions. For instance, there are three rooms, the Rosa Rooms, dedicated just for the art of Joseph Rosa. He painted scenes from the Habsburgs ancestral seat in Aargau, Switzerland. In the Children’s Room, the walls are adorned with portraits of all eleven of Maria Theresia’s daughters. Also, in the Hall of Ceremonies there is a painting of a wedding with 98 carriages following the wedding processions. This also shows the wasteful opulence of the habsburgs. It is very unnecessary to display their riches in such a way. I believe that the Habsburgs should show their status to some extent; however, it is not very necessary to overdo it in the way that they do. Like I said before, there are better places the money can go, especially into social reform and ensuring that their subjects live a better and more prosperous life.