Laxenburg castles

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The castles of Laxenburg are located in the municipality of Laxenburg in Lower Austria on the border with Vienna . The old castle , the blue courtyard (or the new castle) and the Franzensburg are located in the large castle park .

history

Map of Laxenburg and the surrounding area (by Jean-Baptiste Brequin de Demenge , 1755)

Until the end of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, Laxenburg was an essential place of residence for the Habsburgs. This tradition began with Emperor Charles VI. Thus, by Maria Theresia , a long, continuous avenue of Schönbrunn , namely on the route of today's Schönbrunn avenue built to Laxenburg. The Laxenburg Railway , which no longer exists today , was also built especially for the imperial court between the southern railway in Mödling and Laxenburg.

Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth spent their honeymoon in Laxenburg in 1854. Two of her four children - Gisela (1856–1932) and Crown Prince Rudolf (1858–1889) - were born at Laxenburg Castle. The last emperor, Karl I , resided almost permanently in Laxenburg in 1917/1918 because he had the Army High Command in Baden near Vienna, which he personally directed, close by and was able to maintain political contacts without being constantly watched by Viennese.

In order to be close to the emperor, other nobles and high officials such as the Esterházy , Daun , Auersperg or Chotek built small castles or villas here, but these are hardly available due to ongoing expansions of the imperial estates. One of them is the Green House .

Laxenburg gained importance again at the end of the monarchy as the occasional residence of Emperor Charles I , who lived here in 1917 and 1918 a. a. Processed requests to him. With the end of the monarchy, the administration was transferred from the Habsburg-Lorraine Family Fund to the War Damaged Fund. In 1922 a "Société Anonyme Chateau Laxenbourg" tried to market the site profitably, but in 1924 it failed. Laxenburg came back to the war victims fund.

In 1938 the municipality of Laxenburg including the castle was attached to Greater Vienna as part of the 24th district and the Blue Court and its outbuildings served the German armed forces as a military magazine. Most of the furniture and art objects came to Vienna's museums. In 1945 the palace and large parts of the park were occupied by the Soviet Army.

In 1955 the castle was in very poor condition. In 1962 the "Schloss Laxenburg Betriebsgesellschaft mbH" for palace and park, formed from representatives of Lower Austria and Vienna, was founded. The agricultural estate administration remained in the municipal administration of the City of Vienna.

There is a fee to enter the park.

Old castle

Old castle, NE facade

The castle park, which was an extensive hunting area, dates back to the 13th century like the old castle ( ⊙ ) and was owned by the Lords of Lachsenburg . When this family died out in the 14th century, the possessions came into the hands of the Habsburgs . Albrecht III. rebuilt and extended the hunting lodge. Later, however, the building fell into disrepair until it was renovated and baroque style under Leopold I by the builder Lodovico Burnacini . In 1682 the Laxenburg Alliance was concluded in Laxenburg Castle , a defensive alliance of several imperial powers against the offensive and expansive France ' Louis XIV. It was destroyed again during the second Turkish siege , but was rebuilt in 1693 and increased by one storey. The original moats were filled in during the 18th century.

A chapel was set up in a tower. It was mentioned as early as 1332. According to the penal letter, a new chapel was built in 1389. Statues were brought here from the chapel on Leopoldsberg . In 1755 the chapel was redesigned in Baroque style and the furnishings of the St. Anna Salesian Church in Vienna were moved here. Until the First World War , the palace served as the spring residence of the Habsburgs alongside the new palace .

In the 1970s, the building, including the chapel , was thoroughly renovated by Laxenburg Betriebsgesellschaft after the damage that occurred during the war and in the post-war period. Part of the Austrian film archive has been located in the Old Castle since 1970 . The chapel is now used for concerts, weddings and other festivities.

Blauer Hof or New Castle

Blue court

The Blue Court (also known as the New Palace ) ( ⊙ ) was first mentioned in 1544 as a Freihof. The owner was Melchior Arguello. Until it was expanded by its owner, Imperial Vice Chancellor Friedrich Karl von Schönborn , between 1710 and 1720, the building changed hands several times. The Freihof got its name after one of these owners, namely Sebastian von Ploenstein ( Blauenstein ). The expansion was carried out by the architect Lucas von Hildebrandt . Later owners were Count Adolf Metsch , members of the Count Daun family. In 1762 it came into the possession of Maria Theresa and the Plauensteiner Hof was expanded further by the court architect Nikolaus Pacassi . The expansion between 1765 and 1767 was not least due to the addition of 16 children to the family in the House of Habsburg-Lothringen . Around 1774, the Belvedere was placed on the east wing of the Blauer Hof, and its interior is decorated with illusionistic paintings, whereby the performing artists are not documented, but Josef Pichler, Vinzenz Fischer or Johann Wenzel are possible. In addition, Pacassi built the dining room wing and the palace theater. Hard imperial stone was used in the pillared hall and the large staircase . Crown Prince Rudolf was born in the Blauer Hof in 1858 .

Right at the beginning of the First World War , the emperor ordered that the Blue Court be used as a hospital . Nevertheless, the Blue Court served as the residence of Emperor Charles I in 1917 and 1918 .

During the occupation after the Second World War, the Blue Court was a command post of the Red Army . (Lower Austria belonged to the Soviet occupation zone until 1955.)

Today, neither the dining room wing nor the palace theater are open to the public; they are managed by the IIASA and used as a conference center.

  • side entrance

  • Staircase made from Kaiserstein in the former Kaunitz Palace

  • Grand staircase

  • Laxenburg Palace Theater

  • Laxenburg Palace Theater

Castle Park, Franzensburg

Castle park in winter time
Franzensburg

After 1780, under Emperor Joseph II , Maria Theresa's son, the approximately 250-  hectare palace park, unlike the Schönbrunn palace park, which was retained in the French style, was transformed into an English landscape garden. The most striking feature of the castle park is the 25 hectare castle pond.

In the castle pond there is an island on which the Franzensburg ( ⊙ ) named after Emperor Franz II and I was built between 1801 and 1836 . There are also other forested islands in the castle pond.

Although the palace park is near the Schwechat , it is mainly irrigated from Münchendorf by the Triesting . From there a canal built in 1801 leads under the Schwechat, which is guided on a canal bridge , to the pond. Another tributary is the Heidbach , which also receives the Baden Mühlbach . The outflow of the pond leads into the Schwechat not far from the mouth of the Triesting.

Among the numerous oaks there is also the 200 to 300 year old lying oak ( ⊙ ).

In addition to the aforementioned castles, there are also numerous historical buildings such as

  • the green pleasure house ( ⊙ )
  • the Concordia temple ( ⊙ )
  • the tournament place ( ⊙ )
  • the Haus der Laune ( ⊙ ), which was built by the architect Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg , but today only exists as a ruin,
  • the rock grotto ( ⊙ ), where a model of the Habsburg was supposed to be built, but was never realized,
  • the knight's crypt ( ⊙ ) and the knight column,
  • the Hofeiskeller, they may have been used to extract ice from the pond ( ⊙ ),
  • the colossal bust of Emperor Franz I ( ⊙ )
  • and the 200 year old dovecote ( ⊙ ) in the castle area.

Until a few years ago, a recreation center and a campsite were set up on the edge of the park. Today, the park is one of the very popular excursion destinations for the Viennese urban population, it is suitable for long walks and boat trips are offered at the pond.

The House of Whims was a capriccio of the empress. It was realized twice. During the Napoleonic occupation it was lost, along with other buildings. Only ruins remain. The reconstruction would be possible on the basis of numerous drawings and records.

The Chinese bridge and pavilion, a work by Hetzendorf, once stood on the summer meadow at the goldfish pond ( ⊙ ). Only the stone base remains.

Emperor Ferdinand I (r. 1835–1848) built a temple ( ⊙ ) for his wife Maria Anna on Marianneninsel , which is now in ruins.

The Forstmeister Canal was created in the 18th century. The fishing village, a rural hameau, no longer stands. A bridge keeps the name. Here the Forstmeister Canal crosses the Münchendorfer Axis. The Great Cascade marks the end of the Forstmeister canal. With an area of ​​25 hectares, the castle pond is the largest of its kind in Austria. Here emperors and kings and the court rowed.

On the longitudinal axis of the baroque so-called forest star, an octagonal pavilion stands in honor of the hunting goddess Diana, today known as the Green Lusthaus. This pavilion from around 1760 was a favorite place of residence of Empress Maria Theresa, who often played cards here. The pavilion is built in the treillage architecture (arcade architecture).

A wreath of columns, aligned Corinthian, surrounds the Concordia Temple. Acanthus leaves adorn the pillars.

The colossal bust of Emperor Franz I was created by Giovanni Battista Comolli  on behalf of the city of Milan and placed in the palace gardens in 1836. ( Lombardy belonged to the Austrian Empire until 1859. )

  • Diana temple

  • Concordia Temple

  • Leftovers from the House of Mood

  • Bust of Emperor Franz I.

  • Tournament court with imperial box, judges' boxes and spectator stands

  • Knight's Crypt

  • Knight column

  • grotto

  • Marianneninsel with temple ruins

  • Dovecote

  • Big cascade with bridge

  • Fischerdörflbrücke

  • Lying oak

Others

The Kaiserbahnhof , the terminus of the former Laxenburger Bahn, which today - reconstructed after its appearance from 1847 - is used as an event center and restaurant, is not located directly in the overall complex, but in direct connection with the Imperial Palace .

In the early days of the Wiener Neustädter Canal , it was also possible to travel from Vienna to Laxenburg by excursion boat. These water pleasure trips lost their original great popularity around 1830 due to the long journey times.

The Kaunitz-Wittgenstein Palace , which was used by representatives of the Kaunitz , Esterházy and Wittgenstein families , had served the Ingenbohl Sisters of the Cross as a monastery and provincial house for Vienna and Lower Austria since 1912 . A kindergarten teacher school and a secondary school were also run by the sisters. Both schools are closed. The International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) is now located in part of the building. It is the first training facility of its kind worldwide.

In parts of the park, international scout camps took place in August 1990 and August 2010 , with over 7,600 participants in 2010.

literature

sorted alphabetically by author

  • Ernst Bacher: Research on Laxenburg (park and Franzensburg): The Franzensburg - knight castle and monument to a dynasty. Böhlau, Vienna 2007.
  • Otto Benesch: The pleasure palace Laxenburg near Vienna. (= Austrian art books , volume 3). Brochure. Ed. Hölzel, 1920. ISBN 0-7588-8871-6 . ( Digitized version ).
  • Edit Bódi, Annedore Brock, Lieselotte Hanzl-Wachter, Elena Holzhausen, Michaela C. Schober: The picturesque landscape park in Laxenburg near Vienna . Ed .: Géza Hajós . Böhlau, Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-205-77444-2 .
  • Christian Fastl: Laxenburg. In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon . Online edition, Vienna 2002 ff., ISBN 3-7001-3077-5 ; Print edition: Volume 3, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-7001-3045-7 .
  • Géza Hajós : Research on Laxenburg (Park and Franzensburg): The picturesque landscape park in Laxenburg near Vienna. Volume 1. Böhlau, Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-205-77444-2 .
  • Géza Hajós: The Franzensburg and the Habsburg in the Park at Laxenburg near Vienna as the site of Legitimation of the Austrian Empire around 1800 . In: Supplement to Die Gartenkunst  20 (2/2008) = Habsburg. The House of Habsburg and garden art . ISBN 978-3-88462-271-1 , pp. 57-66.
  • Géza Hajós: Peter Joseph Lenné and Laxenburg. The importance of the rediscovered Lenné Plan for the imperial park in Laxenburg near Vienna . In: Die Gartenkunst  13 (1/2001), pp. 1–14.
  • Lieselotte Hansel-Wachter: The Rittergau in the imperial palace park of Laxenburg. Private amusement and monument to a dynasty . Garden Art 13 (2/2001), pp. 233-253.
  • Klaus von Krosigk : Expert opinion on the "Laxenburg show plan" PJ Lennés from 1815 regarding. In: Die Gartenkunst 13 (1/2001), pp. 15-17.
  • Quirin von Leitner (Ed.): Monograph of the imperial pleasure palace Laxenburg . Adolf Holzhausen, Vienna 1878.
  • NN: The Laxenburg Palace Park - a guide through past and present. Brochure.
  • Peter Paul Stöckli: Habsburg - Rittergau - Aargau. Relations between the House of Habsburg and the Canton of Aargau in connection with the creation of the Rittergau in the Laxenburg Park . In: Die Gartenkunst 19 (2/2007), pp. 275–284.
  • Franz Weller: The imperial castles and palaces in words and pictures. Hof-Buchdruckerei, Vienna 1880. ( Online )
  • Luigi Zangheri: The Laxenburg Castle Gardens near Vienna and Early Nineteenth Century Italian Visitors . In: Supplement to Die Gartenkunst  20 (2/2008) = Habsburg. The House of Habsburg and garden art . ISBN 978-3-88462-271-1 , pp. 67-76.

Web links

Commons : Schlösser von Laxenburg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arno Kerschbaumer, Nobilitations under the reign of Emperor Karl I / IV. Károly király (1916–1921) . Graz 2016, ISBN 978-3-9504153-1-5 .
  2. ↑ Historical. Schloss Laxenburg Betriebsgesellschaft, accessed on November 28, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Historical overview. Laxenburg community, accessed on November 28, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Blauer Hof. Schlossplatz 1, former courtyard building. Laxenburg community, accessed on November 28, 2015 .
  5. ^ The Laxenburg end as a hospital. In: Neues Wiener Tagblatt , August 20, 1914.
  6. ↑ Arno Kerschbaumer, Nobilitations under the reign of Emperor Karl I / IV. Károly király (1916–1921) . Graz 2016, ISBN 978-3-9504153-1-5 .
  7. ^ Elisabeth Firsching: Lying oak. In: Schlosspark Laxenburg - photographic forays through nature and history. May 23, 2012, accessed on November 28, 2015 (pictures of the oak and the nature conservation board).
  8. ^ Pedunculate oak 'lying oak' in the castle park. In: Monumental trees. November 1, 2014, accessed on November 28, 2015 (picture of the oak).
  9. ↑ House of Mood. Schloss Laxenburg Betriebsgesellschaft, accessed on November 28, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Chinese pavilion. Schloss Laxenburg Betriebsgesellschaft, accessed on November 28, 2015 .
  11. ↑ The Marianneninsel. Schloss Laxenburg Betriebsgesellschaft, accessed on November 28, 2015 .
  12. ↑ Robert Kalasek: 2004 - Noe / Laxenburg Marianne Island - Garden Pavilion. November 1, 2004, accessed on November 28, 2015 (pictures of the garden pavilion).
  13. ↑ Green pleasure house. Schloss Laxenburg Betriebsgesellschaft, accessed on November 28, 2015 .
  14. ↑ Concordia Temple. Schloss Laxenburg Betriebsgesellschaft, accessed on November 28, 2015 .
  15. ^ Colossal bust of Emperor Franz. Schloss Laxenburg Betriebsgesellschaft, accessed on November 28, 2015 .
  16. ^ Biedermannsdorf from Adolf Schmidl : Vienna's surroundings on twenty hours in a circle , hiking guide 1838, volume 2, p. 134f.
  17. ↑ Interpol Anti-Corruption Academy comes to ORF on July 11, 2007, accessed on January 1, 2015.
  18. ↑ That was the urSPRUNG 2010 - Austrian Jubilee Jamboree. (No longer available online.) 2013, archived from the original on December 8, 2015 ; accessed on November 28, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ppoe.at

Coordinates: 48 ° 3 ′ 55 ″  N , 16 ° 22 ′ 3 ″  E