Imperial Wagenburg Vienna

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Wagenburg, entrance area

The Kaiserliche Wagenburg Wien is a museum located on the grounds of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna- Hietzing , in which gems from the vehicle fleet of the Austrian imperial family and well-known noble houses, especially von Thurn und Taxis , can be found. The museum, a department of the Kunsthistorisches Museum , is one of the most important collections of courtly ceremonial and utility vehicles.

Collection history

Vehicles in the Wagenburg (1961)

Towards the end of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy , the k. Housed in the imperial court stables (now the Museum Quarter) included. k. Hof-Wagenburg around 640 vehicles of various kinds. With them the daily transport of several hundred people and numerous goods and objects required for the court was accomplished. The management of the vehicles was the responsibility of the chief stableman’s office, whose staff consisted of around 500 people. The rich saddle room also belonged to the inventory of the Habsburg stables .

Not only the emperor and his family were entitled to the use of court wagons, but also the dignitaries and servants, including court actors and noble boys. The spectrum of vehicles was correspondingly large, ranging from baroque ostentatious bodies to gala, leisure and everyday cars from the 19th and early 20th centuries to simple transport vehicles and modern automobiles.

With the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the imperial vehicle fleet lost its previous function. Some of the wagons continued to be used by the officials of the newly founded Republic of Austria after 1918 ; some vehicles had to be given to the other successor states, others were sold to private individuals in order to fill the empty state coffers. The majority of the vehicles, however, were brought to a commercial transport company, the "Federal Fuhrwerksbetrieb". The numerous Victorias, Mylords and Coupés that were used by the members of the court in everyday life and were thus a characteristic part of the Viennese street scene were lost as a result - as was the inventory of utility and work vehicles.

After the chief stableman's office was dissolved in 1922, what was considered to be historically significant and therefore worthy of preservation was given to the Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM), along with some examples of modern carriage construction and the associated harness and livery. At first there were 90 vehicles, a few more were added in later years. In addition, there were other holdings in the saddle room, such as riding saddles, horse blankets and the like (clothing depot). Also in 1922, the wagons left to the museum had to leave their traditional place in the court stables, as these rooms were now  rented to Wiener Messe AG, which had called the building the Messepalast for decades.

Since there were no sufficiently large halls available in the Hofburg area , the objects were moved to the former winter riding school of Schönbrunn Palace. In 1947 the Wagenburg was separated from the management of the weapons collection (today the court hunting and armament chamber) of the KHM, to which it had been subordinate since 1922, and set up as an independent collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, with its own management, academic staff and restorers.

In November 2001, the last remaining Hof automobile, the later “Kaiserwagen” built in 1914 by the Austrian company Gräf & Stift , returned to the inventory as a permanent loan from the former manufacturer. Emperor Karl I took him by train to Switzerland when he left the republican German Austria in March 1919; later Gräf & Stift bought it back at auction. In 2007, Gloria Fürstin von Thurn und Taxis lent 17 of her coaches and coaches to the museum.

Components of the collection

Wagenburg, look into the show hall

The Wagenburg houses over 5,000 objects, most of which date from the Baroque period to the end of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. 101 of the 161 wagons or carrying devices of the Wagenburg come from the stables of the Viennese court and 50 from the vehicle fleets of Austrian noble houses. Around 60 vehicles are on display in the show halls of the Wagenburg. The collection is divided into the following groups:

  • Carriages
    • Gala wagons ( imperial wagons, coronation cars, Galaberlinen, carousel wagons, hearse)
    • Everyday car (city car, touring car)
    • Leisure car (garden car, self-drive car, hunting vehicle, children's carriages)
    • Commercial vehicles (horse training vehicles, utility vehicles, fire trucks)
  • Sledge
  • Automobiles
  • Harnesses, saddles, saddlecloths ...
  • Paintings, graphics

literature

  • Georg Johannes Kugler: The Wagenburg in Schönbrunn. Hofwagenburg, rich saddle and crockery room of the emperors of Austria. Graz 1977, ISBN 3-201-01017-0 .
  • Elisabetta Bresciani, Monica Kurzel-Runtscheiner, Elisabeth von Samsonow (eds.): Wagenburg and Wagenbau. The history of the collection of historical splendid vehicles (Wagenburg) and the development of carriage production in Vienna . In: gooseneck and gold crepe. Exhibition catalog of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-85497-080-3 , pp. 14-17.
  • Rudolf H. Wackernagel: The golden chariot of Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein. Exhibition of the Wagenburg in Schönbrunn with loans from the collections of the ruling Prince of Liechtenstein. Exhibition catalog. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna 1977.

Web links

Commons : Wagenburg  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rich tack room. kaiserliche-wagenburg.at.
  2. ↑ The Imperial Carriage returns to Schönbrunn. news.ch, November 4, 2001, accessed on March 31, 2009 (The historic Kaiserwagen is on permanent loan to the Wagenburg of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Schönbrunn. The festive entry into the Schönbrunn courtyard is planned for November 11th.).
  3. ^ Anna-Maria Wallner: With the carriage to Vienna. Die Presse, September 18, 2007, accessed on March 31, 2009 (Gloria Fürstin Thurn und Taxis is currently on short vacation in Vienna. She has lent 17 carriages to the Kunsthistorisches Museum. The start was lavishly.

Coordinates: 48 ° 11 ′ 12 ″  N , 16 ° 18 ′ 34 ″  E