Visiting Vienna

Back in 1913, the Schönbrunn palace gardeners built a small Japanese garden in the park which subsequently became disused and overgrown. In 1998 it was restored to its former glory in three separate areas…

The tea garden (German: Teegarten) would normally feature a tea house, but in this example it’s a stone area (German: Teeplatz) instead.

At the corner of the tea garden, nearest the large Palmhouse, you’ll see a piece of bamboo with water dribbling into it. Watch it for a few minutes and it will suddenly tip over and bounce back, striking a stone tablet underneath one end with a loud crack. An environmentally-friendly form of keeping pests away.

Next to the tea garden is the stone garden (German: Steingarten), and beyond that the Karesansui or dry landscape garden. Here, mountains and associated water features are represented using just sand, gravel, stone and a few plants.

At the corner nearest the Palmhouse, there’s another small feature with water dribbling into the container - listen out for the gentle tones it produces.

The garden is just outside the main zoo entrance, where there’s a path going off to the left along the edge of the Palmhouse. The Japanese garden is on the right of this path, surrounded by a bamboo fence. You can’t miss it.

This entry is filed under Schönbrunn.