The City's tourism website (
visit link) informs us:
"The Hofburg Imperial Palace was the seat of one of the most powerful families in Europe - the Habsburgs. This family ruled much of Europe from the 12th century right up until the first World War. It served as the family's headquarters, and as their winter residence.
The Imperial Palace itself was initially a castle built in the 13th Century. The building was continually added to and renovated by successive Habsburg rulers as their power increased through the years.
As such, it is possible to see many different architectural styles in the construction of the Palace, from Gothic to Baroque to Art Nouveau.
The Imperial Palace is mammoth in size, consisting of over 2600 rooms. Rather than get overwhelmed by this, it is generally a good idea to focus of the following sections - the New Palace, the Imperial Apartments (Albertina), the Imperial Treasury (Schatzkammer), the Spanish Riding School, the Sisi Museum and the Kaisergruft."
and Wikipedia (
visit link) adds:
"ofburg Palace is a palace located in Vienna, Austria, that has housed some of the most powerful people in European and Austrian history, including the Habsburg dynasty, rulers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It currently serves as the official residence of the President of Austria. It was the Habsburgs' principal winter residence, as the Schönbrunn Palace was their preferred summer residence.
The Hofburg area has been the documented seat of government since 1279 for various empires and republics.[1] The Hofburg has been expanded over the centuries to include various residences (with the Amalienburg), the Imperial Chapel (Hofkapelle or Burgkapelle), the Naturhistorisches Museum and Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Austrian National Library (Hofbibliothek), the Imperial Treasury (Schatzkammer), the Burgtheater, the Spanish Riding School (Hofreitschule), the Imperial Horse Stables (Stallburg and Hofstallungen), and the Hofburg Congress Center.
The Hofburg faces the Heldenplatz ordered under the reign of Emperor Francis Joseph, as part of what was to become a Kaiserforum that was never completed.
Numerous architects have executed work at the Hofburg as it expanded, notably the Italian architect-engineer Filiberto Luchese (the Leopoldischiner Trakt), Lodovico Burnacini and Martino and Domenico Carlone, the Baroque architects Lukas von Hildebrandt and Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach (the Reichschancelry Wing and the Winter Riding School), Johann Fischer von Erlach (the library), and the architects of the grandiose Neue Burg built between 1881 and 1913."