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Hofburg Palace is a palace located in Vienna, Austria, that has housed some of the most powerful people in European and Austrian history, including the Habsburg dynasty, rulers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It currently serves as the official residence of the President of Austria. It was the Habsburgs' principal winter residence, as the Schönbrunn Palace was their preferred summer residence.
The Hofburg area has been the documented seat of government since 1279 for various empires and republics. The Hofburg has been expanded over the centuries to include various residences, the Imperial Chapel, the Naturhistorisches Museum and Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Austrian National Library, the Imperial Treasury, the Burgtheater, the Spanish Riding School, the Imperial Horse Stables, and the Hofburg Congress Center.
The Hofburg in Vienna is the former imperial residence. From 1438 to 1583 and from 1612 to 1806, it was the seat of the kings and emperors of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, thereafter the seat of the Emperor of Austria until 1918. Today it is the official seat of the Austrian Federal President.
The rooms are in the Rococo style, with rich stucco work and valuable tapestries from Brussels (17th and 18th centuries), chandeliers made from Bohemian crystal and tiled stoves made from porcelain. The furniture, added in the nineteenth century, is in the Louis XV and Empire styles.
The Hofburg Palace is so popular and famous that it was the main motif of one of the most famous silver collectors' coins: the 20 euro Renaissance commemorative coin.
The coin shows the "Swiss Gate" of the palace. This gate bears Ferdinand I's coat-of-arms and titles. It is flanked by two soldiers of the period as a reminder of the unsettled times which saw Vienna besieged by Turkish armies in 1529, as well as the struggles between Protestants and Catholics during the Reformation.
Name | Hofburg Palace |
Address | Hofburg - Michaelerkuppel, 1010, Wien |
Tel | (01)5337570 |
HP | www.hofburg-wien.at |
Access | 5 minutes walk from Herrengasse Station |
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