14 April 2017 Day 14 trip Day 12 cruise - Vienna Day 2 Schonbrunn Palace and red squirrels

 Tour bus through Vienna pst some of the buildings that we had seen the day before and then out  to the Schonbrun. There were a lot of people there already and we were told not to wander off and try to stick together. We would get free time after the inside tour so we could wander the grounds which were quite extensive. we had no idea how extensive. We were instructed what location to come back to,  to catch the bus back. there was a scale model of the palace as we entered the grounds.

No pictures were allowed inside so I took pictures of the postcards I bought at the end of the tour. I do not think that is cheating as I paid for the post cards. I did manage to take a few before we were told no photos. A lovely statue and a marvellous ceiling  greeted us right away.

 Schonbrunn palace is very large.  Wikipedia says" Schönbrunn Palace (German: Schloss Schönbrunn) was the main summer residence of the Habsburg rulers, located in Hietzing, Vienna. The 1,441-room 

( yes that is right 1,144 rooms)  
Rococo palace is one of the most important architectural, cultural, and historic monuments in the country. Since the mid-1950s it has been a major tourist attraction. The history of the palace and its vast gardens spans over 300 years, reflecting the changing tastes, interests, and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs."

 In 1569,  Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian II  purchased a large floodplain of the  Wien river beneath a hill, situated between Meidling and Hitting, where a former owner, in 1548, had erected a mansion called Katterburg. The emperor ordered the area to be fenced and put game there such as pheasants, ducks deer and boar, in order for it to serve as the court's recreational hunting ground. In a small separate part of the area, "exotic" birds such as turkeys and peafowl were kept. Fishponds were also built.

The name Schönbrunn (meaning "beautiful spring") has its roots in an artesian well from which water was consumed by the court.  

There was a definite feeling of deja vu as we went through the palace. Many rooms were built and decorated with Versailles as the model and although still not really matching Versailles over the top decor, it was beautiful through out. There were servants hallways behind the walls of the main rooms so that the people in the rooms would never see the servants stoking the fire or cleaning up after them. 

During the next century, the area was used as a hunting and recreation ground. Eleonora Gonzaga,  who loved hunting, spent much time there and was bequeathed the area as her widow's residence after the death of her husband, Ferdinand II.  From 1638 to 1643, she added a palace to the Katterburg mansion, while in 1642 came the first mention of the name "Schönbrunn" on an invoice. The origins of the Schönbrunn orangery seem to go back to Eleonora Gonzaga as well. The Schönbrunn Palace in its present form was built and remodelled during the 1740–50s during the reign of empress Maria Theresa (the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions  and the last of the House of Habsburg. In her lifetime she had 11 children and was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria  and Galacia, the Austrian Netherlands, and  Parma. By marriage, she was Duchess of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany and Holy Roman Empress). She received the estate of Sconbrun as a wedding gift. Franz I commissioned the redecoration of the palace exterior in the neoclassical style as it appears today.

Franz Joseph, the longest-reigning emperor of Austria, was born at Schönbrunn and spent a great deal of his life there. He died there, at the age of 86, on 21 November 1916. Following the downfall of the Habsburg monarchy in November 1918, the palace became the property of the newly founded Austrian republic and was preserved as a museum.

After World War II and during the allied Occupation of Austria (1945—55), Schönbrunn Palace was requisitioned to provide offices for both the British Delegation to the Allied Commission for Austria, and for the headquarters for the small British Military Garrison present in Vienna. With the reestablishment of the Austrian republic in 1955, the palace once again became a museum. It is still sometimes used for important events such as the meeting between U.S. president John F. Kennedy and and Soviet premier Nikita Krushchev in 1961. 

Since 1992 the palace and gardens have been owned and administered by the Schloss Schönbrunn Kultur-und Betriebsges.m.b.H., a limited-liability company wholly owned by the Republic of Austria. The company conducts preservation and restoration of all palace properties without state subsidies. UNESCO catalogued Schönbrunn Palace on the world Heritage List in 1996, together with its gardens, as a remarkable Baroque ensemble and example of synthesis of the arts (Gesamtkunstwerk). 

Nowadays one can rent a room there according to our tour guide wouldn't that be something...Schonbrunn palace rooms | Full Kitchen + Washer/Dryer‎Adwww.airbnb.ca/Accommodations/Book-Now‎

The sculpted garden space between the palace and the Neptune fountain is called the Great Parterre. The French garden, a big part of the area, was planned by Jean Trehet, a disciple of Andre Le Notre, in 1695. It contains, among other things, a maze. Mom and Dad are sprinkled here in the maze, I think they would like that.

It was in the midst of all of these gardens that I saw my first ever red squirrel. It was so cute. I tried to get a good photo but only succeeded in getting these shots. my first red squirrel let alone at a palace. Lovely.

The complex however includes many more attractions: Besides the tiergarten, an orangerie erected around 1755, staple luxuries of European palaces of its type, a palm house (replacing, by 1882, around ten earlier and smaller glass houses in the western part of the park) is noteworthy. Western parts were turned into English garden style in 1828–1852.

The area called Meidlinger Vertiefung (engl.: depression of Miedling ) to the west of the castle was turned into a play area and drill ground for the children of the Habsburgs in the 19th century. At this time it was common to use parks for the military education of young princes. Whereas the miniature bastion, which was built for this purpose, does not exist anymore, the garden pavilion that was used as shelter still does. It was turned into a café in 1927 and is known as Landtmann’s Jausen Station since 2013.

At the outmost western edge, a botanical garden going back to an earlier arboretum was re-arranged in 1828, when the Old Palm House was built. A modern enclosure for Orangutans, was restored besides a restaurant and office rooms in 2009.

The Great Parterre of Schönbrunn is lined with 32 sculptures, which represent deities and virtues.

The garden axis point towards a 60-meter-high hill, which since 1775 has been crowned by the Gloriette structure. 

We did not climb up the hill but did walk down to the fountain which was stunning and on our way back stopped to enjoy the smaller fountains too.  I enjoyed the gardens almost more than the palace.

We made it back to our appointed pickup location and found our bus and back through Vienna and its lovely buildings to the ship we went with our heads full of palatial splendors.

  A lovely sit down and rest before  a scrumptious dinner and entertainment in the lounge afterward. 

Sleep came easy that night as we were quite exhausted from our wanderings during the day.