[Things can change faster than I can update: check official sites & COVID info before purchases / travel; U2 metro closed in part 'til 2023; an * means an affiliate relationship]

Visiting Vienna

Upper Belvedere palace

Upper Belvedere entrance

Upper Belvedere joins an elite group of local museums in presenting you with the eternal Vienna dilemma: what’s more impressive: the exhibits on display or the building housing them?

The art

Upper Belvedere seen from the rear

(Upper Belvedere seen from the rear today. Not a lot has changed!)

The Upper Belvedere palace houses one or more temporary exhibitions and most of the semi-permanent displays that draw on the Belvedere art collections. The latter include:

  • The History of Belvedere: explores the history of the building and collection, with relevant paintings and documents, as well as a lovely scale model of the 1722 palace
  • Klimt and Vienna around 1900: the most popular part where you find The Kiss and other works by Klimt. Also includes many other masterpieces by, for example, Schiele, Rodin, Makart, and others
  • Baroque and beyond: portraits, landscapes, and more, including one of Jacques Louis David’s famous depictions of Napoleon

Upper Belvedere’s History

Upper Belvedere in the 19th century

(Upper Belvedere in the 19th century. Photo courtesy of the Rijksmuseum)

Built between 1717 and 1723, the palace started life as the purely ceremonial residence of the military genius, Prince Eugene of Savoy. The Lower Belvedere building (which also hosts art exhibitions) acted as the more functional residence.

So, yes, the prince had enough wealth to build a palace largely for show. Like a second car you keep for Sunday drives in the country.

Eugene fought a lot of battles, won most of them, and made sure we never forget the fact by decorating his homes with constant reminders.

Various locations within Upper Belvedere feature pictures of these battles, along with triumphalist wall decorations and ceiling paintings of him being honored for his military achievements by grateful figures from mythology.

Many parts of the palace now consist of modern-style gallery rooms to host the priceless art on display. But other parts retain much of their historical grandeur.

Ad:

You can imagine Eugene discussing each room with his prospective Baroque interior decorator:

“Your suggestion for the north wall?”
“Perhaps a battle scene, my prince. You can never have enough battle scenes in a palace. It keeps the servants on their toes.”
“And can we put one on the ceiling, too? With me in the middle surrounded by angels. And Gods. And laurel wreaths. Lots of laurel wreaths.”
“Um…”
“You think it too much?” (Eugene moves hand to sword hilt)
“Not at all, my prince. Perhaps we might add some enemy soldiers in chains, too?”
“You’re hired.”

The architecture

The visitor entrance to Upper Belvedere is the Sala Terrena, a large, brilliant white “lobby” with a decorated stucco ceiling, sculpted pillars, and supporting arches.

This leads to the Grand Staircase: it seems you measured a person’s worth by the size of their staircase in Baroque days. And Eugene was worth a lot.

The grand staircase is, well, pretty grand: a huge wide stone staircase with stucco martial reliefs and giant iron-wrought lamps that would have greeted visitors as they arrived in their carriages.

Upper Belvedere marble hall © Lukas Schaller / Belvedere

(Upper Belvedere interior: the marble hall © Lukas Schaller / Belvedere, Wien)

The stairs take you up into possibly Upper Belvedere’s biggest “wow” moment. The Marble Hall is two storeys tall and the illusionist paintings add false galleries and niches to the architecture.

The windows of the Marble Hall give great views down to Lower Belvedere and let you properly grasp the layout of the main gardens.

Although the room dates back to the early 1700s, its big historical moment came in 1955 when the allies signed the treaty here that gave Austria its independence back after the post-WWII occupation.

The palace also has a small chapel which you can glimpse while walking round the Klimt part of the permanent exhibition.

Tickets & visitor tips

(Booking service provided by Tiqets.com*, who I am an affiliate of)

I’d strongly recommend getting tickets in advance, as the ticket office queues can grow quickly during peak season. The Vienna Pass (review) gets you into the Upper Belvedere site for free (one time only).

Upper Belvedere uses a time slot system. So purchased tickets come with your choice of entry time (you can take as long as you like once inside). You don’t normally need a time slot if you have a Vienna Pass.

The entrance to the palace is on the north side, facing the main gardens and Lower Belvedere (just follow the big, red museum signs). This takes you into the entrance hall (the Sala Terrena), which is your starting point.

  • Toilets and coin-operated lockers are downstairs, or you can leave your things at a staffed cloakroom on the ground floor
  • Once inside, you have a shop, history exhibition, temporary exhibition and café to your left and the medieval masterpieces to your right

(Even if medieval art leaves you cold, consider at least going into the first room on the right. This often houses a single piece of contemporary art specially commissioned for the rather splendid-looking surroundings.)

  • Go ahead and up the stairs for the Marble Hall and the main permanent displays and any other temporary exhibitions
  • Without wishing to sound strange, it’s worth a trip to the toilets: they have elegant Villeroy and Boch porcelain sinks!
  • As elsewhere in Belvedere, look in each room for a copy of its Salomon Kleiner engraving from the 1730s. Not every room has one, but the picture lets you grasp the original design, decoration and function, even if the room no longer looks anything like it did in Eugene’s day.

How to get to Upper Belvedere

See the directions article for detailed guidance.

Address: Prinz Eugen-Straße 27, 1030 Vienna

Last modified: