IMPERIAL COACH MUSEUM SCHÖNBRUNN
The Habsburg Royal Carriages in Vienna
Many of the magnificent carriages which transported royals around their privileged world have been lost to the sands of history. Some exist in assorted transportation museums around the world or history museums. Two great collections of these glorious vehicles remain where they can be ogled together, the Royal Mews of the English Monarchy in London (see Royal Mews London), which are still in use, and the Imperial Coach Museum of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna (Kaiserliche Wagenburg Wien).
For centuries the horse drawn carriages of the aristocracy were key elements of expressing the power and prestige of royal courts. Especially designed coaches of elaborate ornamentation were created to appear at coronations or royal weddings, and the formal state processions of the nobility. As the 18th Century advanced at the height of the grand imperial age, new techniques of coach building advanced the art and design of these ostentatious vehicles.
After the fall of empires with the end of World War I in 1918, the collection of coaches used by the Austrian Habsburg family, which used to reside at the Imperial Court Stables at the Vienna Hofburg Palace was moved to the former winter riding school at the Schonbrunn Palace. Officially called the Museum of Carriages and Department of Court Uniforms, the exhibit in Vienna has become one of the most important of its kind. Aside from one of the best preserved court carriage fleets, it also houses a special collection of historic riding and harness equipment, as well as the world’s largest collection of civilian uniforms and personal dress worn by the Imperial Family (see Imperial Treasure Chamber).
One of the most famous of the collection is the imperial coach built for the coronation of the Emperor Joseph II in 1764, amazingly decorated with ornate relief carvings and paintings by Franz Xaver Wagenschön (his last name means beautiful coach, so he must have been a specialist). This extraordinary coach was drawn by eight grey horses who so struggled with its heavy weight it could go no faster than a walk. After the coronation debut, it was used for various other ceremonies for another hundred forty years.
The other significant exhibits in the collection include the Coronation Coach of Napoleon, when he declared himself emperor for a brief period (see Battle of Leipzig) as well as a children’s coach which was made for his son, declared King of Rome to follow. The Napoleon coach was later used as the wedding coach for the Empress Consort Elizabeth for her marriage to Franz Joseph I.
The best known princess of the age, “Sisi” is well represented in the exhibit with her ceremonial dress and riding equipment in the Sisi Riding Chapel on the upper level, with the story completed by the Hearse used for her funeral after her assassination by an Italian anarchist while traveling in Geneva in 1898.
Visiting the Imperial Coach Museum at Schonbrunn
The Museum is located on the garden grounds of the Schönbrunn Palace. It may be visited separately from the palace tour with its own admission. The museum is open daily 9 am to 5 pm from March through November and 10 am to 4 pm November to March. The special exhibition “Franz Joseph 1830-1916”, including an audio guide runs until November 27, 2017 with admission price of €9.50 for adults. © Bargain Travel Europe
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SEE ALSO:
THE EMPEROR TOMB - KAISER CRYPT VIENNA
HABSBURG ARMS & ARMOR COLLECTION
ST PETERS CHURCH BAROQUE GEM OF LEOPOLD I
INVALIDES NATIONAL ARMY MUSEUM PARIS
