2_1_DiscoverGermany_Issue7:Scan Magazine 1
11/9/13
15:30
Page 58
Attraction of the Month Austria
Liechtenstein Garden Palace
Celebrate like a Prince The Liechtenstein Garden Palace, a High Baroque masterpiece that influenced Vienna's architecture for decades, is now an exclusive venue for hire and a popular backdrop for photos and films. Art lovers will be enthralled by masterpieces from Rubens to Raphael whilst strolling through the palace's grand rooms and exquisite garden.
Top right: Garden Palace library. © LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collcetions, Vaduz Vienna Below right: Garden Palace Sala Terrena Liechtenstein. © Palais Liechtenstein GmbH
TEXT: JULIKA HÜTHER
The building and grounds belong to the Princely Family of Liechtenstein, whose predecessor Johann Adam Andreas I. von Liechtenstein acquired the land and had the Garden Palace built as a summer residence around the year 1700. A great admirer of the Italian arts, von Liechtenstein commissioned Domenico Egidio Rossi to create a draft for a city mansion resembling a Roman Palazzo, which was put into execution by Domenico Martinelli.
the Princely Collections, which nowadays include masterpieces from early Renaissance to the Biedermeier era, was transferred to the Garden Palace and made accessible to the wider public.The addition of the library saw another major adaptation of the palace to a newly acquired function. Magistra Julia Holter from the communication and event management department says:“The odour of 100,000 historic books creates a special atmosphere.”
The neo-classical building with its cool, monumental air, its impressive splendour and stylistic uniformity greatly influenced the development of Baroque architecture in Vienna. The Hercules Hall, measuring 550 square metres and including a ceiling fresco by Andrea Pozzo, was the biggest and most impressive secular Baroque hall in the entire Austrian capital.
After the Second World War, during which the artefacts were removed from the Garden Palace for security reasons, the palace became a meeting place for Austria's building trade. Later, the mumok Museum of Modern Art moved in, before the palace underwent a lengthy refurbishment which not only returned it to its former glory but created a modern exhibition space.
The Garden Palace has seen many changes. In the early 19th century, a large part of
Today, the Garden Palace is an exclusive venue that can be booked for guided tours
58 | Issue 7 | September 2013
Main image: Garden Palace. © LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna, La Veduta, Katharina Drexler
of the Princely Collections as well as for corporate and private events where guests can soak in the splendour of the magnificent rooms and garden. It is available for groups of ten to 1,600 guests and can host gala dinners, seminars, trade shows, summer parties, fashion shows, concerts, weddings, anniversaries and other events which bring its 300 years of history back to life. www.palaisliechtenstein.com