Outstanding Universal Value
Brief synthesis
The site of the Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn is outstanding as
one of the most impressive and well preserved Baroque ensembles of its
kind in Europe. Additionally, it is a potent material symbol of the
power and influence of the House of Habsburg over a long period of
European history, from the end of the 17th to the early 20th century.
It is impossible to separate the gardens from the palace, of which
they form an organic extension: this is an excellent example of the
concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, a masterly fusion of many art forms.
A small hunting lodge and later summer residence of the Habsburg
family was rebuilt after total destruction during the last Turkish
attack in 1683. During construction work the project was expanded into
an Imperial summer residence of the court. As such it represents the
ascent and the splendour of the Habsburg Empire. At the peak of Habsburg
power at the beginning of the 18th century, when imperial Vienna
following the Turkish reflected its regained significance in spectacular
examples of newly developing Baroque art, Schönbrunn was one of the
most important building projects of the capital and residency.
The ample Baroque gardens with their buildings (Gloriette, Roman
ruins etc.) and statuary testify to the palace's imperial dimensions and
functions. The original intention, when they were laid out in the 18th
century, was to combine the glorification of the House of Habsburg with a
homage to nature. The Orangery on the east side of the main palace
building is, at 186 m, the longest in the world. The Great Palm House is
an impressive iron-framed structure, 114 m long and divided into three
Sections, erected in 1880 using technology developed in England.
Criterion (i): The Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn
are an especially well preserved example of the Baroque Princely
residential ensemble, which constitute an outstanding example of
Gesamtkunstwerk, a masterly fusion of many art forms.
Criterion (iv): The Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn
are exceptional by virtue of the evidence that they preserve of
modifications over several centuries that vividly illustrate the tastes,
interests, and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs.
Integrity
With the exception of some minor alterations dating from the 19th
century, the property includes all elements of the Palace and Gardens of
Schönbrunn. The property is of such a size it offers a complete
representation of Imperial Palace features. None of the attributes
within the property are under threat. However the visual integrity of
the property is vulnerable to high-rise developments in Vienna.
Authenticity
The original building has been expanded and modified considerably
since it was built, to suit the tastes and requirements of successive
imperial rulers. No significant changes have been made to the structures
themselves since the work on the facades commissioned by Franz I at the
beginning of the 19th century. The furnishings and decoration of the
Imperial apartments, the theatre, the Chapel, and other important
components are wholly authentic. The structure of the Baroque park
layout is also virtually untouched, and traditional 18th century
techniques are still used for trimming its trees and bushes. Schönbrunn
became, as it were, frozen in time in 1918 when it became the property
of the Republic of Austria. Since that time, the form that it possessed
in 1918 has been faithfully retained, both in the original fabric and
decoration and in the restoration following wartime damage. The complex
of the Palace and park may be considered to be an outstanding example of
Gesamtkunstwerk because of the way in which it has preserved intact the
originality of its architecture, the design and furnishings of the
Palace, and the spatial and visual relationship of the buildings to the
park.
Protection and management requirements
The buildings and the gardens are owned by the Republic of Austria.
Since 1st October 1992 the property has been managed by the Schloss
Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsgesellschaft mbH (Ltd). This company
entirely belongs to the State. Maintenance of the gardens is carried out
by the Federal Gardens Service (Bundesgärten).
The property is protected at Federal and Provincial level. Areas
adjacent to the property have been designated as protection zones, and
these also delineate the buffer zone. The City of Vienna controls these
surroundings by zoning and building regulations. There remains an
on-going need to ensure that the skyline of the property and views out
are not compromised by tall buildings in its setting.
The day-to-day professional management of the property is carried out
on the basis of agreed budget, staff and investment plans. Following
the requirements of the Federal Office for Protection of Monuments and
the City of Vienna, these plans are elaborated on and pursued by experts
employed by the Federal State. The "Schönbrunn Akademie" (Schönbrunn
Academy) also provides training programmes on heritage management and
specific technical issues.
The operational budgets are financed through earnings achieved by the
managements' operating company, assisted by the Federal State. In the
buffer zone, funds are made available from the City of Vienna.
Long Description
Schönbrunn is of outstanding universal value as a particularly
well-preserved example of the Baroque princely residential ensemble.
Furthermore, the palace and gardens are exceptional by virtue of the
evidence that they preserve of modifications over several centuries that
vividly illustrate the tastes, interests and aspirations of successive
Habsburg monarchs.
From the 16th century onwards, Schönbrunn was the site of a hunting
lodge and summer residence of the Habsburg family. After total
destruction during the last Turkish attack in 1683 the palace was
rebuilt in 1695. The emperor, Leopold I, originally commissioned a château de plaisance
for Grand-Duke Joseph, the heir to the throne, but dynastic
developments during the course of construction required its function to
become that of an imperial summer residence, and hence for its size to
be increased. It continued in that role until the end of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Apart from some minor 19th-century additions, the palace and its
gardens received their appearance in the 18th century. The architectural
ensemble contains precious 18th-century interiors. The former
apartments of Emperor Franz Joseph in the west wing were adapted in the
19th century with furniture that is also of historical importance.
Schönbrunn was designed by the architects Johann Bernhard Fischer von
Erlach and Nicolaus Pacassi and is full of outstanding examples of
decorative art. Together with its gardens, the site of the world's first
zoo in 1752, it is a remarkable Baroque ensemble and a perfect example
of Gesamtkunstwerk .
The main part of the palace in its present form is largely the work
of Pacassi, although preserving Fischer von Erlach's overall structure.
Access to the piano nobile from the courtyard is via a
monumental staircase leading to the impressive Great Gallery, which is
ornately decorated with stucco ornamentation and ceiling frescoes
symbolizing the Habsburg Empire.
Behind it lies the Small Gallery, which is flanked by two small
rooms, the Chinese Round Room and the Chinese Oval Room, both decorated
with black and golden painted lacquer panels and furnished with Japanese
ceramics and furniture. The Carrousel Room leading off the Great
Gallery is the anteroom to the Ceremonial Hall, notable for its series
of monumental paintings depicting events in the long reign of Maria
Theresa.
Among the most impressive of the rooms in the east wing is the
sumptuous Vieux-Laque Room, with its priceless oriental lacquer panels
set in walnut panelling surrounded by gilded plasterwork and extremely
ornate furniture; the Napoleon Room is decorated with enormous Brussels
tapestries; the Porcelain Room is a small chamber in which the ornately
carved wainscoting is painted in blue and white, and decorated with 213
sketches by Franz Stephan and his children. The rooms in the West Wing
are Iess elaborately decorated and were used for domestic purposes by
members of the imperial family.
The vast Baroque gardens and their buildings testify to the imperial
dimensions and functions of the palace; the courtyard provides access to
the Palace Chapel and the Palace Theatre. The orangery on the east side
of the main palace building is the longest in the world. Built in the
mid-18th century, it was used not only for Maria Theresa's passion, that
of cultivating exotic plants, but also for festive events and
performances. The Great Palm House is an impressive iron-framed
structure and divided into three sections, erected in 1880 using the
technology developed in England. The Schönbrunn zoological garden,
founded by Franz Stephan of Lorraine, husband of Empress Maria Theresa,
in 1752 and hence the oldest in the world, is in the grounds.
Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC
Historical Description
The Katterburg estate, the site of the present Schonbrunn
palace, was sold in the mid-16th century by the Klosterneuburg monastery
to Emperor Maximilian II, who developed it as a hunting lodge and
installed a menagerie. The buildings were badly damaged when Vienna was
sacked by the Hungarians in 1605; it was not until 1622 that they were
restored by Emperor Ferdinand II. After his death in 1637 the Katterburg
became the dowager estate of his widow, Eleanora of Gonzaga. The name
was changed to Sch6nbrunn (Beautiful Spring) in 1642, when a new
three-storey château de plaisance was erected alongside the older
building.
In 1683 Vienna was besieged by the Turks, who were finally crushed, but not before they had wrought great destruction in the surroundings of the city, including Sch6nbrunn. During the great rebuilding that followed the siege, Emperor Leopold I commissioned the Italian-trained architect Johann Bernard Fischer von Erlach to design a new building there as a residence for his heir, Grand-Duke Joseph. His first design is now thought to have been prepared simply to demonstrate his capabilities. In this he was highly successful: his design was greatly admired and was to secure him many other commissions.
The marriage of Leopold in 1699 caused the second design to be modified, so as to raise its status. Construction began in 1696 and Fischervon Erlach personally oversaw the work. The central section was complete and habitable by 1700, but further work was brought to an end by the outbreak of the war of the Spanish Succession in 1701, and then by the sudden death Of Emperor Joseph I in 1711. The uncompleted building became the residence of the Dowager Empress Amalia Wilhelmine.
When she acceded to the Imperial throne in 1740, Maria Theresia chose Schonbrunn as her permanent residence, and a new phase began in the life of the palace. Urgent repairs were carried out on the dilapidated buildings in 1742-43, followed by major structural changes, which were carried out in three phases: 1743-49, 1753- 63, and 1764-80. Most of the work in the first two phases was carried out to the designs and under the supervision of the architect Nicolaus Pacassi, who was to become, like Fischer von Erlach, the Imperial and Royal Court Architect. The major project of the third phase was the embellishment of the gardens (the Gloriette, the Neptune Fountain, the "Roman Ruins", the Obelisk>, largely the work of Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg.
Maria Theresia's immediate successors uoseph II and Leopold II) Showed little interest in Schonbrunn, but it was to become the summer residence of Franz I (1792-1835), and Franz Joseph (1848-1916) spent much of his life there. The latter was responsible for the restoration of the old ROCOCO decor and certain other modifications. The palace's architectural history came to an end in 1870 and there have been no significant changes since that time.
Source: Advisory Body Evaluation
