Palaces, Castles, Villas and other Buildings of the Habsburg Family

**Marengo** · #1 04-19-2008, 09:46 AM

This thread is dedicated to the palaces, castles and other buildings that the Imperial Family of Austria used. I will start with an un-Austrian castle:

Castello Miramare in Trieste, where the ill-fated Archduke Maximilian (emperor of Mexico) lived with his wife Charlotte of Belgium. Charlotte/Carlota returned to this vila after her husband was murdered in Mexico and she slowly became mad here too.

The location of the castle is beautifull!

Castello by the sea

Another side view

Aerial view

Facade

The garden

View from the terrace

More information here.

Empress Merel · #2 12-30-2008, 05:54 PM

Was Neuschwanstein owned by the Imperial family?

Rumour has it that Castello Miramare is haunted.

Warren · #3 12-31-2008, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Empress Merel

Was Neuschwanstein owned by the Imperial family?

Neuschwanstein is in Bavaria, not Austria. It was a Wittelsbach property.

Harold · #4 12-31-2008, 12:23 PM

What is Otto's home, Villa Austria (I think) near Munich like? Is it large or just average? What about Karl's home in Salzburg, I think it's call the Kaiser Villa? Why did the family never recover some of their homes in Austria? Is that all part of the Habsburg Law issue?

kelly9480 · #5 01-01-2009, 12:09 AM

IIRC, the Habsburg Law is why they didn't get their property back. I don't understand how this law is compatable with EU law, but, whatever. AFAIK, it's still on the books in Austria, and some members of the family have challenged it's continued existence, and argued for the restitution of private family lands, estates, properties and investments. I know that all cases brought by the Habsburgs in Austria arguing for restitution have been lost or dismissed and that they have yet to receive compensation.

Karl's home is fairly large by normal standards, but it's not a palace or anything. I was surprised to see on seegerpress-online.de the pics of Georg's home, because it's larger than I expected, but I suppose prices in Hungary would be lower than in Western Europe. His home might be larger than Karl's. Seeger Press might also have pics of Karl's home.

amedea · #6 04-24-2009, 02:32 PM

How the Teschen line of Habsburg managed to keep the property of Haltburn castle? Did they renounced to their rights in Austria?

**MAfan** · #7 04-24-2009, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amedea

How the Teschen line of Habsburg managed to keep the property of Haltburn castle? Did they renounced to their rights in Austria?

The castle is owned from 1955 by the Barons Waldbott von Bassenheim, descendants of Archduchess Maria Alice of Austria-Teschen.

amedea · #8 04-26-2009, 11:14 AM

the baron W v B was named his heir by AD Albrecht, who died in 1955

Warren · #9 04-27-2009, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amedea

...the property of Haltburn castle

Schloss Halbturn is quite impressive. Here's the webpage.
Aerial view
Schloss Halbturn

Harold · #10 06-30-2009, 11:10 AM

Does the President of Austria actually reside in the Hofburg or does he just have his office there?

**MAfan** · #11 06-30-2009, 11:16 AM

He lives in a flat in the Hofburg.

Harold · #12 06-30-2009, 03:20 PM

Franz Joseph and Karl when reigning lived at Schonnbrunn not the Hofburg, correct?

amedea · #13 06-30-2009, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harold

Franz Joseph and Karl when reigning lived at Schonnbrunn not the Hofburg, correct?

Franz Joseph lived several months per year at the Hofburg (in winter). Actually I remember that when I went to Vienna turists could only see Franz Joseph private apartements at the Hofburg, while the all Leopoldinestracht (where empress Maria Theresia lived e.g.) was reserved to the president of the Republic.

**MAfan** · #14 06-30-2009, 05:56 PM

Emperor Franz Joseph used to live mostly in Schonbrunn, and when his presence was needed in Wien he lived in the Hofburg; in summer he lived in Ischl, in the Kaiservilla.

jonnydep · #15 06-30-2009, 06:27 PM

bad ischl is a spa resort near saltzburg, where the archduchess sophie had given birth to franz joseph, after taking the salts for many years to cure her barreness. emperor franz joseph had met and fallen in love with elisabeth, duchess in bavaria here. when they married (against his mothers wishes, it is said she favored her elder sister helene !!) the archduchess had presented him with a house of classical style which was suitably enlarged and named kaiservilla. this became the summer holiday home for the franz joseph and his family. the emperor returned every year, as to him it was "the earthly paradise" where he could indulge his hunting and find some solace with his mistress, the actress katerina schratt, she also had a villa in bad ischl.

the kaiservilla is still owned today by the habsburgs , perhaps by the descendants of franz joseph, via his daughter the archduchess marie valerie, princess of tuscany ?.

update
as of 1977, the kaiservilla was owned by the grandson of the archduchess , markus habsburg-lorraine, archduke of austria born in 1946.......

**MAfan** · #16 06-30-2009, 06:39 PM

An interesting detail: the Kaiservilla, if seen from the sky, has the form of an E; it was said to be in honour of the new Empress Elisabeth.
Btw, Jonny, Franz Joseph was born in Schonbrunn, not in Ischl. But it's true she used to take the salts in Ischl for a lot of years.

jonnydep · #17 06-30-2009, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAfan

Franz Joseph was born in Schonbrunn, not in Ischl. But it's true she used to take the salts in Ischl for a lot of years.

thanks mafan, as always you are correct, i do not know what i do without you at times, what a good friend you are.
yes the emperor was born at schonbrunn 18 august 1830, he also died there on 21 nov 1916.
i miss interpreted the following text "the archduchess had given birth to franz joseph after taking the salt cure at ischl to end her supposed barenness" i assumed he was also born there.....

yes the palace schonbrunn was built in the late 17th century on the site of a palace razed by the turks in 1689. it was on the empress maria theresa orders that the palace and the gardens remodelled as much as we see them today ......

principessa · #18 08-25-2009, 06:25 AM

Here are some information about Schloss Artstetten, the summer residency of the imperial family and burial place of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sophie of Hohenberg.

Schloss Artstetten: Herz und Krone - eurocity

Warren · #19 08-26-2009, 07:56 AM

Schloss Artstetten remains the private property of the Hohenberg family (a morganatic branch of the Habsburgs, descendents of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Countess Sophie Chotek).

Schloss Artstetten homepage
Schloss Artstetten

V Schloss Artstetten
courtesy of Wikipedia; reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License

D'Arbanville · #20 11-10-2009, 07:21 AM

Taking advantage of currently living in Switzerland, I visit the Habsburg related places. This is how I got to the picturesque Rorschachberg by the Lake Boden, where Schloss Wartegg can be found. Built in 1558, got into the possession of the Bourbon-Parma family in 1860. This is where Empress Zita and the children arrived in March 1919, their first home in exile. They spent here a few weeks only, the Swiss authorities were worried about the closeness of the Austrian border, some 10 kilometers, so the family was uprooted again and moved to a villa by Lake Geneve.
The Bourbon-Parmas sold Schloss Wartegg in 1924. Today a spa hotel is operating in the castle. Surprisingly, there is not a single reminder about the former resident of the castle. More precisely, there is a half sentence reference about Zita's stay there in one of the hotel brochures. Also surprising and somewhat annyoing is the neglected shape of the enormous park around the castle. Actually, this is very unusual in Switzerland.