Before refrigeration and container shipping, fruits like oranges were a big deal. And tropical trees an even bigger one. A properly-stocked glasshouse, like the Schönbrunn Orangery, stood out as a mark of wealth and prestige.
- Remarkably-long orangery, built in 1754
- Home to exotic (for Austria) plants
- Garden has a vineyard and rare apple varieties
- 2025 season runs April 1st to November 2nd
- Also hosts concerts & events (all year)
- Book a Schönbrunn concert, tour & more*
- See also:
Orangery and garden
(Schönbrunn Palace orangery garden; press photo © Schloss Schönbrunn Kultur und Betriebsges.m.b.H., Alexander Eugen Koller)
Emperor Franz I Stephan, husband of Empress Maria Theresa, left quite a legacy in Vienna.
Franz’s curiosity and scientific interest laid the foundations for many of the city’s globally-important museal collections, such as the Natural History Museum.
And it was during the couple’s reign that Schönbrunn’s Orangery appeared in 1754.
Its purpose? To offer a winter home for a growing collection of potted plants from around the world, but particularly the ornamental, crop, and citrus plants from the Mediterranean.
Think of the Orangery as an Olympic-sized glasshouse, with whitewashed stone walls, underground heating, huge arches and, of course, plenty of windows.
Second only to the Orangery at Versailles in length, the accessible west part of the 189m building still houses exotic plants today. The summer sees the collection move out into the Orangery garden, which turns into an open-air botanical display case.
Great towering palm trees rub shoulders with figs, pomegranates and other exotics, such as the Illawara Flame Tree. The trees and shrubs often seem impossibly large for their pots.
(Find tickets and experience options for the palace and zoo)
The east part of the building finds use as a venue, hosting regular palace concerts that hark back to the days of Mozart and Strauss.
The orangery made an excellent party location back then, and the Emperor no doubt felt better about drunk aristocrats spilling red wine in an outbuilding rather than on the precious inlaid floors of the actual palace.
You might find other events there, too, such as Vienna Citrus Days or Art Vienna.
The garden area also features a small vineyard, which is new but harks back to Baroque predecessors on the same site (Vienna has a long winemaking tradition).
A growing collection of rare apple varieties adjoins those vines; the trees sport such splendid names as the Steierische Schafsnase (Styrian sheep’s nose).
I felt a flare of delight at seeing English varieties included, particularly one from my old home county (Schöner von Wiltshire – Wiltshire beauty) and the London Pepping, whose heritage dates back as far as 1580.
Tickets & visitor tips
The Orangery garden and west end only opens in the warmer months, which means April 1st through to November 2nd in 2025.
Schönbrunn offers various ticket options for seeing those gardens and snatching a peek into that part of the building.
The Orangery concerts continue through the year, usually with a range of package options that can include dinner or a tour of the main palace.
Schönbrunn’s is not the only palace orangery in Vienna.
Lower Belvedere palace, for example, has its own (smaller) version. However, the only plants you’ll ever find inside come in painted form: the building serves as one of the venues for Belvedere’s special art exhibitions.
Getting to the Orangery
Once you’ve found Schönbrunn, stand outside the main tour entrance to the palace on the left side of the building as you face it.
Now look left.
Go down that road, under the arch, past the privy gardens on your right (where you can buy tickets for the Orangery), and on past the Marionette Theatre on your left. The entrance to the Orangery is just after the theatre.