Schaezler Palace

The Schaezlerpalais in Augsburg houses municipal and state art collections. It is located by the Hercules Fountain and was formerly the city palace of the banker Benedikt Adam Freiherr von Liebert, Edler von Liebenhofen. Its facade facing Maximilianstraße is 19 m significantly narrower than the 107 m long house front along Katharinengasse.

As early as 1346, a building was mentioned at this site. In 1499, a new building with an oriel and loggia was commissioned by the Imperial Councillor Philipp Adler. The later Emperor Maximilian I stayed in this house several times. Adler's daughter Anna married Franz Welser and gave birth to their daughter Philippine Welser. Her birthplace gradually became the property of the local families of Welser, Rehlingen, Sulzer, and Stetten.

In 1764, the banker Benedikt Adam Liebert acquired the building from David von Stetten. The Lieberts had come to Augsburg in 1733 and amassed wealth in the silver trade. In 1763, Johann Adam Liebert, Benedikt Adam's father, had been elevated to the hereditary imperial nobility and the Augsburg patriciate as "Edler von Liebenhofen". A residence befitting their status was now required. The purchased house was replaced by a new building starting in 1765. This Rococo palace was built according to plans by the Munich court architect Karl Albert von Lespilliez. The construction work lasted four and a half years.

The interiors turned out particularly magnificent. The splendid inauguration took place on April 28, 1770. The "star guest" was 14-year-old Marie Antoinette, who was on her bridal journey to Versailles and made a stopover in Augsburg. In the two-story ballroom, the youngest daughter of Austrian Empress Maria Theresia, promised to the French Dauphin and later King Louis XVI, danced through a pair of red shoes.

The richly carved wall paneling of the hall comes from Placidus Verhelst. Franz Xaver Feichtmayr the Younger was responsible for the opulent stucco work. The ceiling painting with the motif of Mercury and World Trade was created in 1767 by Gregorio Guglielmi. The painter also adorned the palace's staircase.

Liebert's daughter Marianna Barbara married the Ansbach banker Johann Lorenz Freiherr von Schaezler. He was promoted to Freiherr in 1821 and acquired all shares of the property from his wife's relatives. The city palace was inhabited and maintained by the descendants of the Schaezlers for four generations. It survived the Second World War without major damage. On October 4, 1958, Wolfgang Freiherr von Schaezler donated the building to the city of Augsburg with the condition that it never be sold and be used exclusively for cultural purposes.

Since 1951, the municipal art collections have been located there (initially on a rental basis). The State Gallery, housed in the adjacent former Katharinenkirche, can be accessed via the Schaezlerpalais.

The Palais was reopened on February 4, 2006 (renovation began in early 2004) after extensive renovation work.