The Hofburg or Imperial
Palace was the home to the
Hapsburgs for six centuries. The building is a jumble of various building
styles over the centuries as the ruling Hapsburgs kept adding to it. The oldest
part of the palace the Swiss Courtyard, dating from the 13th Century
and named after the Swiss Guards who used to guard the place. The curvaceous
Neue Burg, from which Hitler addressed a rally during his triumphant 1938 visit
to Vienna, dates from the massive
building period between the second half of the 19th Century and the
start of World War I.
The 22 rooms in the Imperial Apartments are stuffed full
with all the fine furniture, tapestries and bulbous crystal chandeliers one
could imagine being in an Imperial Palace. The sheer wealth exhibited in the
Imperial Treasury collection of crown jewels is staggering. One room contains a
2860-carat Colombian emerald, a 416-carat balas ruby and a 492-carat
aquamarine. The religious relics include supposed fragments of the True Cross,
a nail from the Crucifixion and a thorn from Christ's crown.
The palace contains a number of museums. These include the
Collection of Ancient Musical Instruments, exhibiting instruments of all shapes
and sizes; the Ethnological Museum,
with displays on non-European cultures; and the Albertina, a famous and
extensive collection of graphic arts. The Gothic Royal Chapel is where the
Vienna Boys' Choir sings at Sunday Mass, where viewing is available for a fee.
Kunsthistorisches Museum
Over the centuries, the Hapsburg family collected all sorts
of art. Today this collection and more are on display at the Kunsthistorisches
Museum. The museum is so huge, that
more than one visit is necessary to take it all in.
Rubens, who was once in the service of the Hapsburg Governor
of Brussels, is well represented here one of the best collection of his works.
The collection of paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder is also unrivalled
anywhere in the world. Other masters whose works are on display include Canova,
Vermeer, Dürer, Rembrandt, Raphael, Van Dyck, Cranach, Caravaggio, Canaletto
and Titian. Egyptian, Greek, and Roman pieces are also on display. Finally,
sculpture and decorative arts are available for view covering the Austrian high
baroque, Renaissance, mannerist and medieval periods, including Cellini's
famously over-the-top salt cellar.