Schönbrunn Castle

The origins of the estate date back to 1311, when the Khattermühle was first documented. After several changes of ownership, Emperor Maximilian II acquired the site in 1569 and used it as a hunting ground, where he also had a hunting lodge built. The name Schönbrunn, according to legend, originated in 1619 when Emperor Matthias discovered a spring and exclaimed: “What a beautiful well!” Between 1638 and 1643, Eleonora Gonzaga, the widow of Ferdinand II, had a representative palace constructed, which was severely damaged in 1683 during the Second Siege of Vienna by the Turks. In 1687, Leopold I commissioned Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach to build a new palace for his successor, Joseph I. The palace received its current appearance from 1743 under Empress Maria Theresa, who had it renovated and expanded into her summer residence by Nikolaus von Pacassi and Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg. Until the end of World War I, it served as a cultural and political center of the Habsburg Empire. Since 1996, Schönbrunn Palace has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Schönbrunn Palace is located at an elevation of approximately 201 meters above sea level in the 13th district of Vienna, Hietzing, within the city of Vienna in Austria.

Today, Schönbrunn Palace is a museum and can be visited by the public. It is one of Austria's most visited cultural monuments and also houses the Schönbrunn Zoo, the oldest existing zoo in the world, within its palace park.

• Springer-Schlössl (Palace), approx. 0.8 km away
• Hetzendorf Palace (Palace), approx. 2.1 km away
• Altmannsdorf Palace (Palace), approx. 2.5 km away
• Baumgarten Palace (Palace), approx. 3.0 km away