The freely-accessible Schönbrunn gardens paint lines of colour through the palace park landscape. But if you want a botanical bonus, then visit the hidden privy garden next to the palace…
- Private garden behind walls and creepers
- Patterned by flowers, gravel & box
- One of the outdoor ticketed areas
- 2025 season runs April 1st to November 2nd
- Book a Schönbrunn concert, tour & more*
- See also:
- Schönbrunn tickets and visitor info
- The Schönbrunn park and gardens
Fit for a prince
(Schloß Schönbrunn, Privy Garden © Schloß Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H., Foto: Alexander Eugen Koller)
The German name for the privy garden is the Kronprinzengarten or “garden of the crown princes”. First constructed in the 18th century, the area passed through various iterations as court architects and their employers refurbished their way through history.
The initial design came from the pen of the opulently-named Jean Nicolas Jadot de Ville-Issey.
The same fellow also had a hand in the building plans for the royal menagerie. That menagerie became today’s public zoo, which still features some of Jadot de Ville-Issey’s work (the central restaurant pavilion, for example).
Today’s privy garden illustrates the gardener’s ability to bend nature to their will and create patterns out of plant, soil, and stone.
The lower part adjoins the east end of the palace and no doubt once provided a suitable view for an illustrious resident.
On my most recent visit (April, 2024), red and yellow tulips raised their heads above slim rectangles of box, with bits of topiary adding an extra dimension…all hemmed in by hedges and a white balustrade.
You then walk around the edges of the larger raised upper section to reach a spiral staircase at the end. The top offers views across what you’d get if you put a mathematician and a horticulturalist in a room with a pen, paper, gardening catalogue, and credit card.
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Low hedges of box, coloured sand/gravel, grass, flowers and shrubs map out a geometric pattern across the garden, all flecked in colour as if Henri Matisse had discovered fractal design (which I’m sure was the look the gardeners were going for). It makes a nice photo.
Once up those stairs, take in the parkland vista.
You might believe you’re visiting a country retreat (as Schönbrunn once was), and not a palace now embedded in the heart of a city with over two million inhabitants. One view looks down a tree-bound alley to the Roman ruins.
Special mention goes to the iron lattice arched walkway that bounds the upper garden, interspersed with dark green and white gateways covered in decades-old Virginia creeper. These must form blazing tunnels of red in autumn.
Tickets & visitor tips
The privy garden is one of the few outdoor areas that requires a ticket.
If doing a self-guided palace tour, consider a ticket upgrade to include the privy garden and other attractions should you be planning a long stay at Schönbrunn.
Alternatively, buy Schönbrunn’s special gardens ticket. This also covers the maze area, the orangery (a neighbour of the privy garden and concert host) and the viewing terrace on top of the Gloriette.
The garden opens during the summer season, which means April 1st to November 2nd in 2025.
How to get to the privy garden
First, find your way to Schönbrunn Palace and stand facing the entranceway that leads to the start of the palace tour.
Look left and wander down the road you see. The privy garden entrance and ticket counter are almost immediately on your right. You can’t miss them.