Hetzendorf Castle

The history of the palace begins in 1675, when Princess Maria Piccolomini acquired a court in Hetzendorf. In 1690, the estate passed to Count Franz Sigismund von Thun und Hohenstein, who had a single-story hunting lodge built from 1694, presumably according to plans by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach. After 1712, under Countess Eleonore von Thun-Hohenstein and her husband Anton Florian Prince of and to Liechtenstein, Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt carried out interior renovations and a French-style park was laid out. In 1742, the Imperial and Royal Court Chamber acquired the palace for Empress Maria Theresia, who in 1743 commissioned her court architect Nikolaus Pacassi to expand it into a residence for her mother. Pacassi redesigned the north side to be the main facade and built the palace chapel. After the death of the Dowager Empress in 1750, the palace stood empty but was later used for smallpox vaccinations and as a residence for Joseph II. In the 19th century, it served as an imperial guesthouse and in 1848 was the headquarters of Field Marshal Windischgraetz. From 1912 to 1914, Archduke Karl, later the last monarch of Austria, lived here with his family. After the end of the monarchy, the palace became the property of the Republic in 1919. Despite a bomb hit in World War II, large parts of the Baroque interior were preserved. Since 1946, it has been the seat of the Vienna Fashion School.

Hetzendorf Palace is located in Vienna-Meidling, in the federal state of Vienna, Austria, at an elevation of approximately 213 m above sea level.

Today, Hetzendorf Palace houses the Vienna Fashion School. Due to school operations, the palace can usually only be viewed from the outside. The magnificent state rooms with the ballroom, the mirror gallery, and the Japanese room are particularly noteworthy. The palace chapel, once also a parish church, is not visible from the outside.

• Altmannsdorf Palace (Palace), approx. 1.1 km away
• Springer-Schlössl (Palace), approx. 1.6 km away
• Alterlaa Palace (Palace), approx. 2.0 km away
• Schönbrunn Palace (Palace), approx. 2.1 km away