Winter Palace Prinz Eugen
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| Data | |
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| place | Vienna 1., Himmelpfortgasse 8 |
| Art |
Baroque
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| architect | Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach , Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt |
The Winter Palace (Stadtpalais) of Prince Eugene of Savoy is an important high baroque palace in Vienna's Inner City (1st district) , Himmelpfortgasse 8. It served the general as a winter residence while he spent the summers in Belvedere Palace .
The historic rooms on the first floor were the seat of the Ministry of Finance from 1848 until the general renovation of the city palace, which began in 2007 . In the course of this work, the state rooms were faithfully restored and presented in baroque opulence designed for Prince Eugen. In autumn 2013, the Ministry temporarily transferred the state rooms it had previously used as a federal museum to the Austrian Belvedere Gallery , which, starting with the 350th birthday of the prince, used the palace as a further location for its art collection and for special exhibitions and made it accessible to the public. As requested, the Ministry of Finance got the premises back for its own use at the end of October 2017.
Historical function
The city or winter palace of Prince Eugene of Savoy in today's (until 1857 walled) old town of Vienna was the main residence of the successful general. Most of the landlord's famous collections were located here, including the exceptionally extensive library.
The city palace also served primarily representative purposes. Prince Eugene exercised high-ranking functions in the Habsburg Monarchy - among other things, he was president of the Imperial War Council from 1703–1736 and formally governor of the Austrian Netherlands from 1714–1724 . Therefore he had to give appropriate receptions and audiences.
In terms of urban development, the Palais is a special feature, as Prince Eugen did not choose a suitable building site for his residence - such as the Herrengasse , which is closer to the Hofburg , but rather the narrow, less spectacular Himmelpfortgasse. After his arrival in Vienna, the successful general did not have his own apartment and lived in the house of the Spanish ambassador at the time.
From autumn 2013 to October 2017, the state rooms of the building under the name Winter Palace were part of the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere .
history
The first land purchases are documented in 1693 and 1694; Several older houses and an early baroque theater hall were included in the area. In 1697 Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach began building a seven-axle palace on behalf of Prince Eugene; his site manager was Andrea Simone Carove. The stonemason was awarded to Johann Thomas Schilck, with family contacts both to Eggenburg and to Kaisersteinbruch . These two stonemason centers near Vienna had secured their business through planned marriages. These two types of stone also determine the palace.
The large portal with the side reliefs (left: Hercules fighting the giant Antaeus; right: Aeneas saves his father from the burning Troy ) is made of Kaiserstein , the sculptor was Lorenzo Mattielli . The remarkable staircase, the steps made of Kaiserstein, with the atlantic figures that serve as supports instead of columns , also come from this construction phase . In the center is a resting Hercules, above whom the profile portrait of the prince is linked to the oil painting by Louis Dorigny depicting "Apollo in the sun chariot" (1710/11). The Zogelsdorf stone sculptures in the stairwell are by Giovanni Giuliani . Deliveries from Kaisersteinbruch were made by master Reichardt Fux . The most important room still completed under the direction of Fischer von Erlach is the so-called Red Salon, the former audience room. The painters Marcantonio Chiarini (squaring) and Andrea Lanzani (figures), who were called to Vienna in 1697, painted the "Admission of Hercules to Olympus" here.
In 1702 the building was taken over by Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt . During this phase, some state rooms were created, especially the gold cabinet with an oil painting by Solimena as the center. After Prince Eugen bought the building to the east, the facade was extended to twelve axes in 1708. Stone carvings were carried out by the Kaisersteinbrucher masters Giovanni Battista Passerini and Elias Hügel .
During the last restoration, a sala terrena with grotesque paintings by Jonas Drentwett was discovered next to the vestibule . This space, which has been used for filing for decades, is not mentioned in the sources. However, since the medallion with the depiction of the “Histoire” in the middle of the window wall also mentions “Höchstätt” among the battles fought by Prince Eugene, the fresco can be dated to 1704.
Around 1710 the house chapel and a gallery, which are no longer in existence, were installed. The central representation room , the so-called Blue Salon with frescoes by Marcantonio Chiarini and Louis Dorigny , also dates from this period. In 1719, by purchasing the building to the west, the front was widened to seventeen axes, which were used to build the library. Stone carvings were again done by Elias Hügel. Lorenzo Mattielli designed the gate reliefs and the decorative wall fountain in the courtyard.
Prince Eugene died in 1736. His niece Anna Viktoria von Savoyen , Princess of Saxony-Hildburghausen married on April 17, 1738, became one of the richest people in Europe as the heiress. (Her husband Joseph Friedrich von Sachsen-Hildburghausen served the Habsburgs as general and military administrator.) She auctioned Eugen's property; the palace (like most of the prince's other buildings) belonged to the imperial court and, after reconstruction by Pacassi in 1752, was the seat of various state institutions, since 1848 of the Imperial and Royal Ministry of Finance.
As Hofärar , state property administered by the imperial family, the palace fell to the republican German Austria since November 12, 1918 , since 1919 called the Republic of Austria when Old Austria fell apart . Since 1920 the ministry has been called the Federal Ministry of Finance .
The grand staircase barely escaped destruction on April 8, 1945. On this Sunday at 2 p.m. in the course of the conquest of Vienna by the Red Army, Soviet planes attacked the inner city . A bomb hit the roof of the palace and exploded in the attic. The ceiling painting by the French painter Louis Dorigny was damaged but was restored by experts from the Academy of Fine Arts .
From 2007 to 2013 the city palace was completely renovated on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Finance. In autumn / winter 2019/2020, the coalition negotiations between the ÖVP and the Greens to form a new federal government took place here, often reported by television .
literature
- Agnes Husslein-Arco (Ed.): The Winter Palace of Prince Eugen , Belvedere , Vienna 2013, ISBN 978-3-902805-39-3
- Richard Kurdiovsky, Klaus Grubelnik, Pilo Pichler: The winter palace of Prince Eugene . Brandstätter, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3854981171
- Beppo Mauhart (ed.): The winter palace of Prince Eugene . Molden, Vienna 1982, ISBN 3217003616
- Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance (Ed.): The Winter Palace of Prince Eugene . Self-published, Vienna ( PDF ; 873 KB)
- Richard Perger: House and land purchases from Prince Eugene of Savoy in Vienna . In: Weimar history sheets . Issue 2, 1986
- Peter Stephan: Ruinam praecedit superbia. The victory of virtus over hubris in the image programs of Prince Eugene of Savoy . In: Belvedere. Visual arts magazine . No. 1, 1997, pp. 62-87
- Harald Waitzbauer : The Winter Palace of Prinz Eugen: Baroque jewel in secret . Vienna 1998
Web links
- Entry about Prince Eugene's Winter Palace on Burgen-Austria
- Information on the Winter Palace at belvedere.at
- [1] Alexandra Matzner on the Winter Palace, October 2013
Individual evidence
- ^ Entry on the Belvederes website, October 2013
- ↑ Start for the “new” Winter Palace , report in the Vienna section of the ORF website from October 17, 2013
- ↑ ORF report from January 1, 2017
- ↑ Helmuth Furch (ed.): The Winter Palace of Prince Eugene, determination of the stone with Prof. Andreas Rohatsch , Vienna University of Technology , in the communications of the Museum and Cultural Association Kaisersteinbruch No. 58/1, 43–56. July 2000. ISBN 978-3-9504555-3-3 .
- ↑ Alexandra Matzner on the Winter Palace, October 2013
- ↑ Alexandra Matzner on the Winter Palace, October 2013
- ↑ Alexandra Matzner on the Winter Palace, October 2013
Coordinates: 48 ° 12 ′ 20 ″ N , 16 ° 22 ′ 22 ″ E