If you look out of Schönbrunn Palace, across the gardens and up to the crest of the hill, your eye comes to rest on the columns and arches of the Gloriette. Which is no accident.
- Military-themed columns and arches
- Built in 1775 to (allegedly) improve the view from the palace
- Now has a café inside
- Part of the free-to-see Schönbrunn park
- Seasonal rooftop viewing platform requires a ticket, though
- Book a Schönbrunn concert, tour & more*
- See also:
Improving the view
(Schloß Schönbrunn, Wien – the Gloriette)
A court grumble (or so the story goes) was the lack of a fitting object for the Imperial gaze as it viewed the hill at the end of the gardens behind Schönbrunn Palace.
Although some kind of hilltop construction proved a very long-lived twinkle in various architectural eyes, salvation eventually arrived in the form of the Gloriette, constructed in 1775.
The building went up under the auspices and guidance of the impressively-named architect, Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg. A former theatre designer, he was busy implementing palace changes during the reign of Empress Maria Theresa.
(The Gloriette in 1847, drawn by the artist Rudolf von Alt; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 138586; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence. Von Alt was noted for his 19th-century drawings and watercolours of the Viennese cityscape)
You can also find interior work by JFHVH (as I’m sure he was known back then) in Vienna’s centre, for example in the Augustinerkirche, Minoritenkirche and Michaelerkirche churches.
As a variation on the concept of a triumphal arch, the militaristic decor and sculptures around the Gloriette echo the building’s apparent meaning as a monument to war. Which sounds better than “custom garden feature.”
The view of the Gloriette from below is certainly impressive and makes for an excellent photo. However, the even better alternative is, perhaps, the palace, garden and city vista you get looking down from the Gloriette.
(Find tickets and experience options for the palace and zoo)
As one writer put it way back in 1807 (my translation):
The view from the Gloriette is certainly unique and infinitely better than that from the belvedere in the gardens of Charlottenburg Palace…Vienna and its surrounds lie at your feet.
Vienna 1 Berlin 0.
And should you wish even better views than all that, then access the Gloriette’s rooftop viewing terrace by buying a suitable ticket.
(The Gloriette in 1858. This time von Alt has taken up the brush and created a watercolour. Photo courtesy of and © Belvedere, Wien. Reproduced with permission under the terms of Creative Commons License CC BY-SA 4.0.)
Tickets & visitor tips
You can walk up to the Gloriette for free, since the building forms part of the open-access park and gardens that surround the palace.
As mentioned above, you do need a relevant combination pass for Schönbrunn or the special ticket for its garden attractions to climb up to the rooftop viewing terrace. These also get you into the other ticketed park areas at Schönbrunn, like the maze, the orangery, and the privy garden.
To find the entrance to stairs for the terrace, go around to the east side of the building. Winding stone takes you up and onto the roof, where you can walk along the entire length of the Gloriette and look down over the palace and wider Vienna.
Benches up top allow you to take a breather should you need one.
This roof terrace closes in winter, though; opening dates for 2025 are April 1st to November 2nd.
(Schloß Schönbrunn, Wien – view of the palace from the Gloriette)
Many of the city’s landmarks dot the view from above: the golden dome of the Steinhofkirche church, Stephansdom cathedral, the skyscrapers of Donau City, the Karlskirche church, and the tall Danube Tower, to name but a few.
A word of warning, though. The spire you can see in the distance directly behind the palace is not (as many visitors mistakenly believe) the cathedral, but the late-19th century Rudolfsheimer parish church.
The view is one of the city’s more romantic ones, so proves the ideal place for one or two moments with a loved one (been there, got the t-shirt).
For those of a more practical bent, the Gloriette also houses a modern café of the same name on the ground floor (so no ticket required, of course). This resonates well with an earlier use of the building; Emperor Franz Joseph used it as a breakfast room.
At the time of writing, you could even book a “Sisi buffet” there for breakfast on weekends and public holidays. My son once visited and praised the hot chocolate and cake.
If you’re not ready for the café, but still in need of refreshment, simply enjoy some fresh alpine water from the drinking fountain on the other side of the central arches.
How to get to the Gloriette
Two main ways to reach the Gloriette once you find the palace:
- Go into the main courtyard, then around to the other side of the palace. Then climb the hill via the winding path that leads up from the Neptune Fountain you can see at the end of the gardens.
- Enter the Schönbrunn park area from the back (via the car park intended for zoo visitors), which starts you off at the top of the hill. Then just follow the signposts.