The Schrnbrunn Palace - Essay Example

Schrönbrunn Palace Affiliation Supervisors Name Austria is a country from Europe continent geographically located at latitude and longitude of 48.1200° N, 16.2200° E, respectively. The country is bordered by the following nations; Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland. It is rich with historical information and artifacts, serene places and features, traditions and activities that are unique in the area. It is commonly associated with summer tourists who visit the historic cities and villages and hike in the magnificent scenery of the mountainous places. During the year 1569, roman Emperor Maximilian II purchased a plot flooded by Wien River. The Roman Emperor turned the area to an animal Zoo and later fenced the place. The place was intended to serve as a game park for animals and the palace recreational center. A mansion Katterburg was put up over the site, and later changed into a hunting lodge by the Emperor Maximilian II. Matthias, the son of the Emperor discovered a beautiful spring when he was hunting and renamed it as the place with beautiful spring. This led to the re-birth of the place as Schönbrunn palace. The world wars in the year 1695 resulted to part of the palace being destroyed by the Turkish especially the hunting lodge. After the world wars, the commissioning of the construction of the palace began by Emperor Leopold I. Key personalities involved in the design and constructions of the palace were Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach who was charged with the responsibility of face lifting the palace. Fisher von Erlachs proposed a construction of complex buildings with multiple rooms. The constructions of the complex became expensive and the emperor settled for a more modest less costly design. The re-construction of the palace into a more modest began in the year 1696 but was half way completed by the time Leopold I died in 1705. Leopold I was succeeded by Joseph who occupied the sections of the complex that was completed by then. The empress, Maria Theresia later instructed the court architect, Nicolaus Pacassi to complete the construction of the complex. The world wars resulted to the downfall of the monarchy in 1918 resulting to the creation of Austrian Republic becoming the owner of Schönbrunn Palace as a recreational facility. The Schönbrunn Palace was re-designed to provide offices for both the British delegation allied to British Military Garrison located in Vienna after World War II. In the year 1918, Charles I who was a monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland expressed interest in the state affairs of Austrian republic and ended the reign of the Habsburg monarchy. It was from here that, Schönbrunn palace became an entity of the Austrian government. Amongst most serene and tourist attraction site is the Schönbrunn palace, one of the major tourist attractions palace in Vienna, the capital city and one of the largest state in Austria. Schönbrunn palace was built between 1696 and 1712 under the leadership of Emperor Leopold I to provide royal state palace for his first-born son and future emperor, Joseph. However, the son died a year before the building was completed. The building was used by his wife during the summer months. The palace was transformed into imperial summer palace by Maria Theresa. The palace has many tourist attractions sites such as the privy Garden with 1,441-rooms to host imperial families during their summer holidays. When she rose to imperial power, Maria Theresa’s successors the palace remained an imperial residence. However, after the congress in Vienna in the year 1815, the palace became summer residence for other imperial families. The palace is mostly visited due to its rich presence with artifacts and historical cultural monuments. It has imperial palace with fountains of water around it, sculptures for important species of animals. Various Habsburg rulers frequented the palace especially during summer periods. The palace has a lodge called Kutscher-G´wölb situated in the Rustler hotel. The lodge is preferred by most royal families visiting the sight. The furnishing and decorations of the state- rooms portrays an authentic impression of the imperial way of life. The park and gardens surrounding the palace make Schönbrunn palace a unique artistical work compared to Baroque art. The exit of Turkish from the palace resulted to redesigning the residence by Empress Maria Theresia. Due to the serenity and existence of many tourist attraction sites, Schönbrunn palace currently forms part of UNESCO’s cultural heritage. Figure 1 displays the serenity of the palace. Figure 1: Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna All the buildings in the palace are painted light yellow in color. Some of the gardens that make the palace serene include Botanic Garden, Japanese garden, beautiful Taubenhaus, Najadenbrunnen fountain, and a dairy farm, which is currently being run as a café-restaurant. The interior of the Schönbrunn apartments is in Rococo style with its luxurious nature. The palace is made of spectacular and precious materials. For example the palace has a round chinese cabinet room decorated with porcelain material which serves as a meeting place for empress Maria Theresia. The blue chinese room is decorated with blue chinese motifs. This is where Charles I held a ceremony to hand over the state affairs in 1918. There is Vieux-Lacque room where Maria Theresia spent much of her time after the death of her husband. There are also private rooms for Franz-Joseph and Elisabeth though less decorated. There is conference room for audiences in the Walnut room made of wooden Rococo paneling. Flower beds surrounds the park with fountains like Neptune fountain, which is the parks most monumental fountain built in 1780 by Franz Anton von Zauner. Several monuments, buildings, and architectural follies such as a mock Roman ruin are some of the features that make palace attractive for tourists. The western side of the park has a magnificent construction made of steel of the Palm House. The palace and gardens depicts the tastes, interests, and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs. Most of the buildings and construction designs in Vienna have taken the form of magnificent and complexity of the palace. The palace has influenced how designers and architect design and plan for buildings. The palace hosted important meetings with dignitaries and imperial families for signing peace treaties and agreements. The sculptures and artistical designs represent the deities and virtues held by the Austrian nationals. A ten Euro coin has been made to commemorate authentic and value of the palace. The Habsburg Emperors loved live music, performances, movies, and films. Therfore it was a traditions of staging concerts and movies for the imperial family. The performances of the film and movies continue up to date at the palaces large orangery. During the concerts, one can listen to the composers; a delicious Viennese dinner at the palaces restaurant is served during the concert. Several movies and plays that have been filmed at the palace include ‘Sissi trilogy in 1950s’ entitled ‘A Breath of Scandal with Sophia Loren’, The Living Daylights in James Bonds featuring Bond and Kara riding through the palace garden, The Great Race which was filmed at the palace during 1965. The movies and performances were not held regularly but only during state and imperial family functions. The theatre for filming movies was restricted to those residences within the courts only. The Austrian who had not seen members of the Imperial family were barred from entering the theater during live performances. During the performances, the Imperial family was preserved the front seats so that they can have a good view of those doing the performances. There are different kinds of performances and dances offered at the palace. One of the performances is called a Quadrille dancing. This is a traditional dance where men and women line up on either side, step towards each other, and dance. Various dancing costumes are used during the performances. The fun and excitement during the performance is enhanced where confusion deliberately is created over the dancing. The performance is mainly done at night hence the name, midnight quadrille. There are also performances for ward winning for adults and children. The dance is normally held at Marionette Theatre. The performances are mainly for children and are short in performances .There is also Childrens Museum called the Kindermuseum. This concert is very interactive; the children learn history of the imperial children. Amongst the things they learn are how the imperial children lived, what they ate, what they played and how their life was like at Schonbrunn Palace and Vienna. There are also performances dubbed seasonal markets. This is the among the top Vienna attractions during Christmas and Easter festivities. Both markets offer high quality local delicacies and crafts. The markets sometimes get windy but the funny part is the huge Christmas tree and or a giant Easter egg. The filming of movies at the palace has significantly changed to current. Around the 18th century, people even those that are not within the courts could move in, the audiences communicated freely in loud voices and were served with refreshments during the theater performances. However, this style of performances changed in the nineteenth century. The theatre performances and concerts are not only seen as entertainment only but that which holds and portrays high discipline and moral values and aesthetic enjoyment to the society. The Shrobunn Palace was the central point for making key political decision in Vienna. It formed the setting of the most eminent functions for the rituals of the Habsburg sovereign. The location of the Palace and its Gardens of is an excellent outstanding impression of well-preserved and unique Baroque ensembles in Europe. The palace is a symbol of the power and influence of the House of Habsburg in European history. The gardens are excellent example of the skills of a masterly fusion of much artistical work. The hunting lodge, which was later converted to summer residence for the Habsburg family, symbolizes the rise and the magnificent Habsburg Empire. The 18th century forms the Peak of Habsburg Empire in power, during this time the imperial Vienna following the Turkish attack of the emperor reflected its dominance at newly developing Baroque art during this time. The Schönbrunn palace was one of the most important building projects of the capital and residency. The Baroque gardens, their buildings, and their state signify the palaces imperial dimensions and functions. The original intention, when the palace was built during 18th century, was to combine the glorification of the House of Habsburg with its homage. Great Palm House formed an impressive structure made of iron. The palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn are excellent virtue of the evidence preserved of modifications over several centuries. The palace clearly demonstrates the choice, tastes, interests, preferences, and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs. The size of the palace is such great that it offers a complete representation of Imperial Palace dynasty. The buildings are such protected that none of the attributes within the property can be under threat. The physical and visual face quality of the palace is highly prone to changes and modifications in the building structures at Vienna. The ownership of the palace is under the Republic of Austria and the maintenance of the gardens is carried out by the Federal Gardens Service. The security is provided by Federal and Provincial Unit. The areas adjacent to the property have protected and designated as protection zones, under the responsibility of city of Vienna that controls the surroundings by zoning and building regulations. Currently there is a need and concern by the federal Gardens service to ensure that the horizon of the property and its views are not compromised by tall buildings in its environs. The daily management and operations of the palace is done by professionals from Federal Gardens Unit under agreed budget, staff, and investment plans. The plans are elaborated and executed by experts employed by the Federal State responsible for the management of the palace. The Schönbrunn Academy provides training on different aspects of management at the palace including heritage management and specific technical issues. The money to maintain, manage, and run the operations at the palace comes from the operational budgets through earnings achieved by the managements operating company and assisted by the Federal State. Currently there are over 60 hotels around the palace that hosts various dignitaries and imperial families from Vienna and the neighboring nations. These have increased the earnings and revenue to the Vienna. The Schönbrunn palace has hosted special features and events at both Vienna and the world at large. For example one of the special event hosted at Hall mirror at the palace was when a five year old boy by the name Mozart appeared for the first time before the royal family during his performance. After the performance, the boy fell onto the lap of Maria Theresia, and received a passionate kiss from the empress. This was a unique and a special event ever in the history of Vienna at the palace. The gardens at the palace portrays very special and unique feature. The garden is a French garden and normally French gardens are always constructed and accurately laid out geometrically. This makes it unique and special because of the skills and professionalism required to construct the gardens. The park is also special feature since the empress was interested in the palace and the furnishings while her husband was interested in the park. The plants at the gardens and the parks are maintained in such a way that whenever they grow too high they are trimmed to from a canopy like that of a carpet. This is unique and special because of the attention and competence required to maintain the park. This is such a special feature that it demonstrates the power of the monarchy. The Schönbrunn Zoo for animals is such unique and special to all the animals in the world. The animals have a mutual relationship like human beings to an extent that they are ambassadors for their fellow animals in park. The big panda species of the animal is a symbol of protection of species for excellence. References A view on the Cities. Available at; http://www.aviewoncities.com/vienna/schonbrunn.htm. Web.6th April 2014. Read More