You’re in for a treat. The self-guided Schönbrunn palace tours take you through rooms full of priceless furnishings and décor, and all with a story to tell of Habsburg and European history.
- Imperial tour covers around 27 rooms
- Focuses on those used by Franz Joseph & Elisabeth, plus Maria Theresa
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- See also:
- Palace tours overview & ticket tips
- Schönbrunn overview & visitor tips
What does the Imperial tour include?
(Schönbrunn palace: salon of Empress Elisabeth; press photo © Schloß Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H.)
As mentioned on my palace tour advice page, the self-guided tours offered by Schönbrunn Palace come in different Habsburgian flavours.
The Imperial Tour is the second-longest and takes you through around 27 rooms/areas. The even longer Grand Tour takes you through the same route as the Imperial Tour, then on through a further 13 rooms or so.
The tour begins in chambers most closely associated with Emperor Franz Joseph (1830 – 1916) and his wife Elisabeth (the famous “Sisi”). It then moves into those with a deeper connection to Empress Maria Theresa (1717 – 1780) and includes the great gallery ballroom.
Expect a vast quantity of rococo furniture, silk wall hangings, historical portraits, gilt chandeliers, and a whole host of other items that once felt the touch or the admiring eye of an Emperor or Empress (or a maid or footman).
Here’s what impressed me most on my trip round…
My highlights
(Schönbrunn Palace, Audience Chamber; press photo © Schloß Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H. – Alexander Eugen Koller)
- I love exhibits that connect the past and present. One of the monumental paintings in the Billiard Room, for example, shows the Schönbrunn gardens, Neptune Fountain and Gloriette as they looked around 150 years ago: little has changed…
- Look for the stunning walnut wall panelling in the Audience Chamber (watch out for walls and floors throughout the tour)
- You might say the desk in Franz Joseph’s study was essentially the administrative centre of a mighty empire. And we now shuffle past it, the empire just a memory. The experience offers a salutary lesson on transience
Check out the imperial smoking pipes here, which would do admirable service as props on the set of Lord of the Rings.
- The bed in Franz Joseph’s Bedroom (where he died) struck me as surprisingly nondescript, reflecting the disciplined life he led
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- Much has been written about Empress Elisabeth’s beauty regime, where just washing her hair was quite an event. The set of scales in her Dressing Room felt particularly poignant when you consider her obsession with her weight
- Look for the clock in the Salon of Empress Elisabeth. The clock face at its rear is reversed, so you can read the time accurately in the mirror behind it
The Imperial apartments in the Hofburg palace also feature a set of rooms used by Franz Joseph and Elisabeth. And for more locations relevant to the latter’s life, see the guide to Sisi in Vienna.
- The Marie Antoinette Room served as a dining room and the table was laid out for a meal on our visit. I suspect the crockery and glassware is *not* dishwasher safe
We marvelled at the remarkable napkins shaped using the unique imperial fold. Only two people at a time ever know the required folding technique.
(Archduke Joseph presents the six-year-old Mozart to the Emperor and Empress at Schönbrunn in 1762. Photo courtesy of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek – Austrian National Library)
- Portraits of Empress Maria Theresa’s children hang in the Balcony Room
If I’m honest, I’d accuse the court painter of only having one face he could paint. Either that or the children were uncannily similar.
- The Hall of Mirrors is a feast of mirrors set between white and gold Rococo walls and ceilings
Close your eyes in this room and imagine the tones of a piano played by a surprisingly-competent six year old.
Mozart probably gave his first performance to the Empress Maria Theresa at this very location.
Today’s Vienna offers plenty of opportunity to hear Mozart’s music in historical ambiences, including the Schönbrunn palace orangery, but also in churches and baroque townhouses.
- The Great Gallery seems like something out of a Disney film. Measuring over 40m by 10m, it features two huge gilt chandeliers with space on each for 70 candles
(The rather impressive Great Gallery; press photo © Schloß Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H. – Alexander Eugen Koller)
This room positively invites you to slip into a wig and something impractical, then dance across the floor while hoping to catch the eye of some Archduke or Archduchess.
The ceiling frescoes include Maria Theresa and her husband surrounded by various figures giving human form to royal virtues and crown lands. Something to consider when you next redecorate your kitchen.
But it’s not all royals and nobility. John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev met in the Great Gallery in 1961 at the height of the cold war; the meeting followed the shooting down of a US spy plane by the soviets.
- Two East Asian Cabinets flank a room off to one side of the Great Gallery. Exquisite patterned floors and lacquer panels caught my eye; the gilt frames peel off to create stands for a variety of priceless Chinese and Japanese porcelain
- Our Imperial Tour ended in the Hall of Ceremonies. Take some time to get a look at the paintings. They show incredibly-detailed scenes from the marriage of the future Emperor Joseph II (Maria Theresa’s son) to Isabella of Parma, a Bourbon princess
Those pictures gave us a real insight into imperial grandeur at the time. And into Mozart’s fame; even though he wasn’t at the wedding, you’ll still find him in a painting (you need to pass through on to the Grand Tour, I think, to get up close, though).
In the Hall of Ceremonies, you’ll be led off through an exit into the gift shop. The Grand Tour ticket, however, allows you to continue into some equally remarkable rooms.