Herberstein Palace (Graz, Sackstrasse)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Herberstein Palace
Portal of the Herberstein Palace

The Palais Herberstein is a former city ​​palace in Graz on Sackstrasse in the Inner City district . The Museum of History of the Universalmuseum Joanneum is located on the premises .

history

The palace at Sackstraße 16 is located between the Kellersperg'schen town house and the Palais Khuenburg . Later, two town houses were merged, one of which was the so-called “Hubhaus”, which housed the coinage. After the mint was dissolved, King Ferdinand left the building to Siegmund von Dietrichstein in 1528. Before 1581 it came into the possession of Georg Sigmund von Herberstein. Later owners were the Freiherr von Thurn (from 1581) and Wilhelm von Gera (from 1591).

Gera's heiress, Elisabeth von Schärffenberg, sold it to Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg in 1602 . After his son Johann Anton bought the neighboring house, the two houses were adapted as a city palace for the Eggenberg family . After the male line of the Eggenberg family had expired, it came into the possession of the Herberstein family through inheritance in 1742 . Count Johann Leopold von Herberstein commissioned the most important Styrian baroque master builder Josef Hueber with the renovation in the late Baroque style . The Rococo stucco and the stoves were created by Heinrich Formentini .

From 1834, the Duchess Maria Karolina of Naples-Sicily lived in the palace and set up her art and painting collection in the premises. This was considered one of the greatest sights in Graz. In 1837 she moved to Brunnsee Castle in southern Styria. In the middle of the 19th century the bel étage was used for events. From 1878 the kk district court moved into the Herberstein palace with the jury court room and the land registry. In 1928 the Herberstein family transferred the palace to a large-scale shopping cooperative. The Herberstein Palace has been owned by the City of Graz since 1939. Until 2009, the new gallery of the Universalmuseum Joanneum was housed in the premises . From 2011 to April 2017, the  Museum im Palais was presented here; after a fundamental reorientation of this museum location, the Museum of History has been on view in Palais Herberstein since April 28, 2017 as a joint house of the cultural history collection and the multimedia collections of the Universalmuseum Joanneum.

Architecture and design

The complex of the Palais Herberstein consists of three wings, each with three floors and two inner courtyards, which extend to the Schloßbergfelsen. On the back of the left inner courtyard, niches were cut into the rock of the Graz Schlossberg , which were used as horse stables. The core of the building dates from the 16th century and was supplemented by a renovation in the Baroque style. The two mighty portals with iron-studded gate wings from 1640 were newly created. The originally simple frame was replaced in the 18th century by a baroque one designed by Josef Hueber. Pilasters with volute brackets rest on the curbstones . They have a curved roof. The keystones are decorated with a tendril pattern. The ground floor was massively changed through the installation of business premises. The northern courtyard is connected to the southern one by a corridor. The facade of the transverse wing is designed as a show side. It has an attic zone with an alliance coat of arms of the Eggenberg and Herberstein families, which was created by the sculptor Johannes Piringer . There are three stone vases above it. The facade of the inner courtyards is designed more simply towards the Schloßberg.

Grand staircase in the Herberstein Palace

A special feature of the Herberstein Palace is the stairwell in the middle wing, which Josef Hueber built from 1754 to 1757. It is accessible from both courtyards. The grand staircase is one of the most beautiful baroque structures in Styria. In addition to a wrought iron rococo wrought iron grille, it is equipped with pairs of sandstone putti that serve as lanterns. The figures were designed by the South Tyrolean artist Veit Königer . All of the ceiling frescoes depicting Ganymede's admission to Mount Olympus and the four seasons (1756) are attributed to the painter Philipp Carl Laubmann . On the second floor, the stairwell is connected to an oval room, also with a ceiling fresco by Laubmann.

The first floor, called “Noble Floor” here, is on the second floor. The doors of the state rooms have carved frames. The hall of mirrors is particularly worth mentioning. It is in the colors white and gold. Because of their wallpapering, the adjoining halls are known as the Yellow and Red Salon. Only one of Heinrich Formentini's stoves has survived in the Hall of Mirrors and one in the Red Salon. The two portraits in the chimney cabinet show shepherd scenes . The painting in the lecture hall dates from the third quarter of the 18th century and depicts Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg.

literature

  • Herwig Ebner: Castles and palaces Graz, Leibnitz and West Styria . Birken, Vienna 1967, ISBN 3-85030-028-5 , p. 83 .
  • Horst Schweigert: DEHIO Graz . Schroll, Vienna 1979, ISBN 3-7031-0475-9 , p. 94-95 .

Individual evidence

  1. a b Ebner: Castles and Palaces. P. 83.
  2. a b Entry about Palais Herberstein (Graz) on Burgen-Austria
  3. ^ Schweigert: Dehio Graz. P. 95.

Web links

Commons : Palais Herberstein (Sackstraße), Graz  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 47 ° 4 ′ 20.8 ″  N , 15 ° 26 ′ 13 ″  E