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

[Marengo]

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]

Was Neuschwanstein owned by the Imperial family?

Rumour has it that Castello Miramare is haunted.

 

[Warren]

Was Neuschwanstein owned by the Imperial family?

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

 

[Harold]

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]

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]

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

 

[MAfan]

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]

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

 

[Warren]

...the property of Haltburn castle

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

 

[Harold]

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

 

[MAfan]

He lives in a flat in the Hofburg.

 

[Harold]

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

 

[amedea]

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]

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]

kaiservilla, bad ischl

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]

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]

birthplace of franz joesph

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]

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]

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]

Schloss Wartegg, Rorschachberg, Switzerland

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.

 

[D'Arbanville]

From the begining till the end

My next excurtion took me to Burg Habsburg, in a village called Habsburg, in Kanton Aargau. The first castle was built around 1020 by Radbot Habsburg, and this place became the origin of the later mighty dynasty. The family lost this place in the 15th century to the Swiss Confederation, but it was interesting to see this rather humble origin. OK, humble compare to their later wealth....

And the end. In the same Kanton is Abbey Muri, where Karl and Zita's hearts are resting together.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Stunning photo's

 

[claypoint2]

Thanks for your post and for these photos, D'Arbanville. They are very interesting indeed.

I see that you are fairly new to TRF.... Welcome!

 

[D'Arbanville]

You're right, fairly new to the site, but not to the topic...

 

[D'Arbanville]

Last years of Zita

The other day I passed through the sleepy Swiss village of Zizers, close to Chur, where Empress Zita had spent her years from 1962 till her death in 1989. St. John's Abbey is a retirement home, where she had a small apartment on the second floor. The building is unassuming, a bit shabby today, occupied by elderly people. At the entrance there is a marble plaque placed in honor of Zita. This was initiated and funded by the "Association of Austrians to preserve the history of Austria."

 

[Grandduchess24]

By far out of all the Hapsburg bldgs
I love the Hofburg palace and schonbrunn palace

 

[Kit]

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

He just has his offices there, he still lives in his old privat apartment in Vienna. Not one Austrian President lived in the Hofburg, they used to live in an old villa in Vienna-Hietzing which is now sold I believe.

 

[Johan]

I just love the topic of different properties that are/was owned by various members of the various European Royal families.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand lived in the Belvedere Palace in Vienna, he had the Artstetten country castle, and also the Konopiste castle in Bohemia (Czech Republick). His descendants still have Artstetten castle, but they lost Konopiste castle. His descendants launched a lawsuit a few years ago to recover the property, but I think they were unsuccessful.

Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Empress Elisabeth lived in the Hofburg, Schonbrunn and the Kaiservilla. Empress Elisabeth also had the Hermesvilla and the Achilleion villa on Corfu in Greece.

After Empress Elisabeth died her daugther Archduchess Valerie got the Achilleion villa which she sold to the Austrian government who sold it to Kaiser Wilhem II. The Greek government confiscated it after World War I.
Archduchess Valerie also got the Kaiservilla, and Schloss Persenbeug. I wonder what properties her sister got?

Did Emperor Karl not have any personal properties? IIRC he stayed in the Ausgarten Palace in Vienna before he became Emperor. This palace was state property.

His grandson the current head of the dynasty launched a lawsuit a few years ago to recover the Laxenburg castles. But I don't know if it realy was Emperor Karl's personal property?

But then again Emperor Karl received a great share of Archduke Franz Ferdinand's Habsburg-Este possessions (which he in turn inheritted from the last Duke of Modena). (As Franz Ferdinand's children the Hohenburg's were morganatic, they didn't receive this patrimony).
But it seems in 1919 all of this anyway got nationalised with the discriminate Habsburg law. Maybe Laxenburg was part of the property Franz Joseph passed to his grandnephew ??

 

[Kit]

Empress Elisabeth gave the Achileion to her daughter GISELA not to Marie Valerie. Marie Valerie got the Kaiservilla when her father Franz Joseph I. died.

The descendants of Franz Ferdinand inherited a hunting lodge in Upper Styria ( the place is called Radmer) from Emperor Franz Joseph which they still own till today. I know it because my grandparents and great-grandparents were living next to it.

As far as Laxenburg was concerned it was along with Schönbrunn and the Hofburg always in possession of the family's head which of course always was the current Emperor. So Laxenburg came to Emperor Karl after Franz Joseph's death.

 

[Johan]

As far as Laxenburg was concerned it was along with Schönbrunn and the Hofburg always in possession of the family's head which of course always was the current Emperor. So Laxenburg came to Emperor Karl after Franz Joseph's death.

Laxenburg, Schonbrunn & the Hofburg were properties that always was in the posession of the head of the family, like you say.
But why then did Archduke Karl try to recover Laxenburg. It must have been state property. Or was it the same as Balmoral is to the Queen of England? (Always the head of the Windsor dynasty occyping it, whilst it being personal property).