Stubenberg Palace

The origins of the Palais date back to 1689, when Governor Georg von Stubenberg received a tax-exempt plot of land in what was then Neugasse and commissioned Bartholomäus Ebner to build it. Just two years later, the property changed hands, passing to Count Michael Weikhart Vetter von der Lilie. His widow sold it in 1709 to Count Josef von Wildenstein, making the Palais part of the Wildenstein family entail. In 1819, the Styrian provincial estates acquired the building and established the “Ständische Zeichenschule” (Provincial Drawing School) and an art collection within it, which later became the Provincial Picture Gallery. In 1893, another sale took place to the Accident Insurance Institute, necessitating the relocation of the school and gallery. After a bombing raid in November 1944, the east wing had to be replaced by a new building in 1948. In the same year, the City of Graz took ownership of the Palais and used it as the City Archive from 1970 to 2000, before the premises were re-rented.