We landed in Vienna yesterday. After exploring our immediate surroundings, the Inner Stadt area, we had a good dinner and conked out. Today we’re going to do the typical tourist thing and go see Schönbrunn Palace. It’s a required activity on any self-respecting tourist’s What-to-See-in-Vienna list.
Schönbrunn Palace is where the Habsburg family liked to spend their summers. Some people have motor homes. Others may have a cabin on a lake. The Habsburgs had Schönbrunn Palace.
How to Get Rich, Habsburg Style
A prerequisite for having a summer palace is that you must have a lot of money. The Habsburgs didn’t just have a lot of money. They were rich, rich, rich.
How did they get so much money? It didn’t happen overnight, but they did have a good start. Being of royal lineage, there was money in the family from way back.
One could say the family fortunes really took off 1,200 years ago, when Rudolph I of Habsburg got himself elected as King of the Romans. (That’s what they called the King of Germany in those days).
Hold on a sec. Elected? Yes, elected, but not by common folk. No way. He was elected by a board of “prince-electors.” They also had the responsibility of electing the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Habsburgs went on to win some battles here and there, thus gaining some territory. And by all accounts, they were successful as rulers. So were many other ruling dynasties of the day.
One Thing Set Them Apart
But what the Habsburgs did better than anyone else was to marry well. Those were the days when royal families arranged marriages as a means for securing power and position.
One way to do it was to have a son. Marry the lad off to the daughter of a well-to-do king. Stipulate in the marriage contract that upon the king’s death, his kingdom would be passed on to the to happy couple.
To the Habsburg’s credit, succeeding in these arrangements must have taken some serious savvy and negotiating skills. They excelled at it. That’s part of how they managed to own a nice summer getaway like Schönbrunn Palace.
The first thing that comes to mind when you first set eyes on Schönbrunn Palace is the size. It’s big, even for a palace.
The second thing might be the palace grounds. They’re filled with meticulously maintained shrubs, hedges, and flowers. It’s as if the Habsburgs employed a thousand gardeners who work only with scissors to keep the grounds looking tidy.
The Palace
The original building, purchased by the family in the 16th century, was destroyed by the Turks in their attack on Vienna in 1683. The Habsburgs rebuilt it ten years later, but the new palace seemed to be a wee bit small. They soon added an extension.
Funny thing, though… it always seemed to be just a wee bit small. (Apparently to the Habsburgs, size mattered). So over the years more rooms and extensions were added. When the family finally stopped adding on, the place was the way it is now: gigantic.
One can think of Schönbrunn Palace as the Austrian version of Versailles – Louis XIV’s residence just outside of Paris. But Schönbrunn Palace isn’t quite as fancy as Versailles.
Don’t get the wrong idea… Schönbrunn Palace has got it goin’ on in the “fancy” department. But it’s not over-the-top fancy like Versailles. Let’s face it – when it comes to “over-the-top fancy,” no one can touch the 17th century French.
It may not be as fancy as Versailles, but when that bus pulled around the corner to where we could see the palace for the first time, I can tell you that it’s impressive. Wow.
It’s easy to see why the Habsburgs liked to hang out here during the summers – and we haven’t even been inside yet.
To be continued…
