Imperial Vienna

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http://www.heygo.com 5th March - Imperial Vienna

Our virtual tour commend in the Museum Quarter with Francis and his wife who he called his Umbrella Lady.



The Museum Quarter was built in the eighteenth century as Vienna’s imperial stables Together with the Hofburg Palace, the New Hofburg Palace, and the Museums of Art and Natural History, the stable complex was originally intended to form one end of the so-called “Kaiserforum,” planned as a complete urban ensemble. The main frontage, a baroque façade 400m in length, was completed in 1725. Between 1850 and 1854, the Winter Riding Hall in classical style was added in what is now the MQ Main Courtyard.



The rain was falling & Vienna looked quite grey as we viewed the magnificent statue of the Empress Maria Theresa.

Unveiled in 1888, the monument pays tribute to the reign of Empress Maria Theresa (1717-1780), who inherited the Habsburg lands in a fairly precarious position and turned them into something rather more successful. She did this without much help from military victories, relying more on the strength of her personality and strategic marriages for her numerous kids (she gave birth to 16).



Maria Theresa sits on a throne at the top of the monument, hand outstretched. Each side of the huge plinth features groups of personalities representing, respectively, her advisors, her administration, the military, and arts & science



Maria Theresa was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. By marriage, she was Duchess of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and Holy Roman Empress.

Wishing to improve Austria’s bureaucracy, Maria Theresa reformed education in 1775. In a new school system based on the Prussian one, all children of both genders had to attend school from the ages of 6 to 12.



The Neue Burg is where Hitler (in)famously used the balcony to announce Austria’s “annexation” into Germany



The Hofburg formed the original centre of the Habsburg court, where the Imperial family lived, worked and ruled. The Hofburg area covers a collection of formerly imperial buildings and open spaces that now serve a variety of purposes, from the President’s office to the National Library.

The Hofburg also hosts the stables and event hall of The Spanish Riding School & we were lucky to see a couple of the famous Lipizzaner stallions in their stalls.

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