Druckansicht - Donnerstag 16. Dezember 2010
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The Hofburg Palace in Vienna - Official Residence of the Federal President of Austria

 

ABSTRACT

 

The Hofburg Palace in Vienna looks back on 700 years of building history. The preserved parts of the Hofburg Palace go back to the time between the 16th and 20th century and accommodated a number of institutions. The Hofburg Chapel, the house church of the Vienna Boys Choir, the Spanish Riding School, the Austrian National Library, the Imperial Treasury, and the Augustinians Church are located right next to each other. The most important part of the Hofburg Palace is the Leopoldine wing, named after Emperor Leopold I, who commissioned the construction of the wing in 1660. The exterior of the wing is simple yet elegant and had originally been intended as a winter residence. Adjoining to the "Swiss wing," the Leopoldine wing served as a home not only for Emperor Leopold I. but also Empress Maria Theresa, Emperor Joseph II., and Emperor Ferdinand. Since 1946, the Office of the President of Austria occupies three floors of the Leopoldine wing. From an art historical point of view, the most important pieces in the Office of the President come from the collection of Franz Stephen of Lorraine and Roman-German Emperor Franz I.: the collection of Pietra-dura-pictures. One of the central rooms in the President's Office is undoubtedly Maria Theresa's bedchamber, which is used as the President's reception room, official room for swearing in the government, state visits etc. The renovation of this room in 1957 resulted in the discovery of a hidden altar adorned with a painting from the last quarter of the 18th century, showing a most original version of Correggio's famous „Adoration of the Shepherds." Realis's account suggests that Joseph II may have had the altar erected in his late mother's bedchamber, where she also died, specifically for the Pope's visit. In 1998, Pope John Paul II. held his famous speech on Europe demanding the "completion of the House of Europe" in the Classicistic ceremony hall, which is a later extension of Leopoldine wing.

 

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The large and dominant Hofburg Palace in Vienna looks back on 700 years of building history. The preserved parts of the Hofburg Palace go back to the time between the 16th and 20th century and accommodated a number of institutions. The Hofburg Chapel, the house church of the Vienna Boys Choir, the Spanish Riding School, the Austrian National Library, the Imperial Treasury where the imperial regalia of the Holy Roman Empire are stored, and the Augustinians Church are located right next to each other. The Augustinians Church used to serve as wedding church of the Habsburgs and accommodates the "Herzgruft," the crypt where the hearts and visceral organs of the members of the Royal Family were buried separately from the other body parts. The most important part of the Hofburg Palace is the Leopoldine wing, named after the builder Emperor Leopold I. The Leopldine wing is adjacent to the "Swiss wing," which got its name from the Swiss guard which guarded the the entrance to this part of the Hofburg Palace from 1748 to 1767.

 

Emperor Leopold I., a patron for the arts who felt great affinity for music and composing, commissioned the construction of the wing in 1660. The exterior of the Leopoldine wing is simple yet elegant and had originally been intended as a winter residence only but later it served as a home and workplace not only for Emperor Leopold I. but also Empress Maria Theresa, Emperor Joseph II., and Emperor Ferdinand. Since 1946, the Office of the President of Austria occupies three floors of the Leopoldine wing. Thus the terms "Leopoldine wing" and "Office of the President of Austria" are often used synonymously. So Austria possesses a building which has served as center of state affairs since the 17th century and whose rooms mirror the history of the country from the Baroque to the present.

 

The history of the Leopoldine wing is changeful and begins in 1660, when Emperor Leopold I. commissioned the building of an additional wing. The project was completed six years later and so the Royal Family was able to move into the new wing, which burnt down only two years later. The Jews living in Vienna were accused of arson and were expelled from the capital. The following years were dominated by the Turks marching on Vienna and laying siege on the city a second time in 1683. As the Hofburg palace was situated close to the city borders, it was not the safest place for the Royal Family.

 

Calmer times followed during the reign of Empress Maria Theresa, the daughter of Emperor Leopold I. - at least in Vienna. Before she moved into the Hofburg Palace, Empress Maria Theresa adapted the Leopoldine wing, furnishing it in the lavish style of her day, though with a personal touch that was to make her comfortable; for instance, the old windows were exchanged for new, taller ones that could be opened to let fresh air in; numerous portraits of the Empress and the so-called "Kaiserliche Vorstellungsuhr," a huge and one of the finest mechanical clock of the Baroque age, can still be found in the Loepoldine wing. The clock, now protected by a glass showcase, weighs about 128 kilograms and has about the height of a grown man. The clock was presented to Maria Theresa in 1750 by her brother-in-law Landgrave Louis the VIII. of Hesse on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of her rule in the Austrian dominions and shows the Emperor and the Empress in front of the fortress in Pressburg.

 

From an art historical point of view, the most important pieces in the Office of the President come from the collection of Francis Stephen of Lorraine: the collection of Pietra-dura-pictures. The Pietra-dura pictures in the Leopoldine wing were made in the workshop of Pietro Scacciati, Lodovico Sieries, and Cosimo Sieries in Florence between 1737 and 1767, mostly based on designs by Giuseppe Zocchi. The collection was commissioned by Maria Theresa's husband, Francis Stephen of Lorraine, who was at the same time Francis II, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Francis I, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Mounted between the 67 pietra-dura pictures are the portraits of Joseph II, his brother and successor Leopold II. and Field Marshal Laudon. These portraits, dating from 1790, are so-called scagliole, imitation marble inlays, made by the painter Wolfgang Köpp von Felsenthal. The cabinets and tables in this room are also Florentine pietra-dura objects. During the Hitler era the largest and most beautiful table was given as a present to the Italian Foreign Minister, Count Ciano, by the Gauleiter of Vienna, Baldur von Schirach and has since been missing from the collection.

 

One of the central rooms in the President's Office is undoubtedly Maria Theresa's bedchamber, which used to be dominated by the Empress' sumptuous bed with its velvet canopy suspended from the ceilings. Today, Maria Theresa's bedchamber is used as the President's reception room, official room for swearing in the government, state visits etc. The renovation of this room in 1957 resulted in the discovery of a hidden altar adorned with a painting from the last quarter of the 18th century, showing a most original version of Correggio's famous „Adoration of the Shepherds." Realis's account suggests that Joseph II may have had the altar erected in his late mother's bedchamber, where she also died, specifically for the Pope's visit.

 

Through a concealed door in Maria Theresa's bedchamber, one can reach the private rooms which served as living quarters for Joseph II. and where the Emperor died in 1790. The "Grüner Salon" used to be Joseph II.'s study and is now used by the Austrian President for the same purpose. The room is noteworthy for two huge paintings depicting an opera scene done by Vienna Court Painter Johann Franz Greipel. The pictures represent a performance of the opera „Il Parnasso confuso" by Christoph Willibald Gluck which had been composed on the occasion of the wedding of Crown Prince Joseph, subsequently the Emperor Joseph II, and his second wife, Maria Josepha of Bavaria, which took place at Schönbrunn Palace on January 23, 1765.

 

Later, buildings were added to the Leopoldine wing, such as the classicistic ceremony hall, which used to serve as throne room until 1918 and is still used for the New Year's Reception for the diplomatic corps. In 1998, Pope John Paul II. held his famous speech on Europe demanding the "completion of the House of Europe" in the classicistic ceremony hall, which is a later extension of the Leopoldine wing.

 

The duty to preserve the furnishing of the Leopoldine wing does not leave much space for modern and creative decoration. Nevertheless, President Heinz Fischer managed to incorporate modern and contemporary art in the President's Office. A wide range of contemporary art including sculpture by Fritz Wotruba and Alfred Hrdlickas as well as paintings by Hermann Nitsch and Markus Prachensky have been included. These measures prove that the Leopoldine wing in the Hofburg Palace is not a museum but an official building which has been constituting the neural centre of Austrian politics for centuries.

 

Mag. Meinhard Rauchensteiner

Office of the Austrian President

Associate Director of the Department of Public Relations

 

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