Like an aristocratic phoenix, Palais Harrach rose from the ashes of a burnt out ruin. Over 300 years later, it remains one of Vienna’s classic pieces of Baroque architecture.
- Town palace completed in the late 1600s
- Still dominates one side of the Freyung square
- Not open to the public per se
- Book a themed guided tour* of Vienna
- See also:
The Harrachpalais
(View from across the square)
In the late 17th century, Count Ferdinand Bonaventura I. von Harrach bought up a burnt-out plot of land on prime Viennese real estate just opposite the venerable Schottenkirche church.
The fire that put paid to the previous building at that location had appeared at a rather inconvenient time; the year was 1683, and the ashes were probably still glowing when a horde of Ottomans began besieging the city.
(When it rains, it pours.)
Harrach had a new palais townhouse built on the site with construction work finishing in 1696.
(The Schottenkirche church and Palais Harrach; drawn by Salomon Kleiner, engraved by Johann August Corvinus, and published by Johann Andreas d. Ä. Pfeffel, 1725; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 105765/48; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)
The architects involved included:
- Christian Alexander Oedtl, who also helped build, for example, the nearby Palais Schönborn
- Domenico Martinelli, who also contributed, for example, to a nearby Stadtpalais still owned by the princely family of Liechtenstein. (At the time of writing, the suitably-named Trattoria Martinelli occupied premises in Palais Harrach)
Count Harrach didn’t get to enjoy his new home initially, being busy in Madrid trying to regulate the Spanish succession for the Austrian Habsburgs.
The count eventually moved into his Vienna residence in 1698 to lead, for example, Emperor Leopold I’s foreign policy unit (which I’m sure had a longer name back then).
(Part of the palais ballroom, photographed by Bruno Reiffenstein around 1910; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 34718/17; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)
The building extends back to Herrengasse and surrounds a large inner courtyard. Palais Harrach even had its own little garden, echoes of which remain in the tiny park to the north of the building (now an entrance to an underground car park).
Rebuilding work in the middle of the 19th century transformed the look of the place, and the cream of Viennese and European society once climbed the staircases for which the palais enjoys particular fame. The last crown prince of the German Empire visited in 1901, for example.
Unfortunately, the location took a lot of damage during WWII.
A newspaper of the time (the Neues Wiener Tagblatt) described Palais Harrach as one of the most valuable historical buildings in the city and railed against the damage caused by the “terror attacks of the Americans” (rather biased reporting there).
(Federal offices can be found within)
Subsequent post-war restoration work returned much of the building to its original Baroque design and what we can see today.
In recent decades, Palais Harrach has served less aristocratic purposes: film set and fashion show venue, art gallery, exhibition hall, and medical information centre, to name a few.
As well as the Trattoria mentioned above, occupants at the time of writing include an upmarket interior designer, business consultants, and ministerial offices.
How to get to Palais Harrach
Just follow the tips for getting to the Freyung (at the bottom of that article).
The palais dominates the south side of the square, the first of three palais buildings leading down toward the very centre of town. The next two are Palais Ferstel and Palais Hardegg.
Address: Freyung 3, 1010 Vienna