Stand in the large courtyard of the Hofburg, In der Burg, and turn toward the side opposite the Imperial Chancellery Wing. The building across from you, with its tower, clock and plain Renaissance front, is the Amalienburg. It's one of the older parts of the palace complex, and…
Two gardens on either side of the Hofburg tell a quieter part of the palace's history. The Burggarten, between the Neue Burg and the Albertina, began…
Mozart stands in white marble in the Burggarten, one hand extended, with the Hofburg rising through the trees behind him. It is an easy place to…
Later on the route through the Imperial Armoury, the steel knights give way to blue cases full of curved sabres, pointed helmets, gilded pistols and…
At first glance it looks like a joke. A knight in full armour, wearing a flared, pleated skirt down to his knees, every pleat beaten out of steel…
Most armour in Vienna is bright steel, sometimes blued, sometimes gilt. This one looks as if someone has painted a carpet on it. Every plate, from…
In the middle of the Hofburg's inner courtyard, In der Burg, an emperor in Roman dress stands on a tall pillar with his right arm stretched out over…
Walk out of the Michaelertor, the domed gate of the Hofburg, and the first thing you'll hear is hooves. A row of open black carriages waits along the…
Heldenplatz is the big open square on the Ring side of the Hofburg: lawns, two bronze horsemen, the curved front of the Neue Burg, and a long view…
The court is gone, but the places that fed it are still open. Within ten minutes' walk of the Hofburg are a confectioner that held the imperial…
The Hofburg isn't a palace in the way Schönbrunn or Versailles is. Nobody designed it. It grew, wing by wing, for more than six hundred years, each…
When Austria swears in a new government, the ceremony takes place in a Rococo room in the Hofburg called the Maria Theresa Room. It was once the…
Most of the Imperial Treasury is about power that lasted centuries. One case is about an empire that lasted three years. It holds the chains of two…
Look at the coat of arms of Albania and above the black double-headed eagle you'll see a helmet with a goat's head on top. The original of that…
The Spanish Riding School is the oldest working part of the Hofburg. It's been training horses here since at least 20 September 1565, the date of the…
In one long, marbled hall of the Imperial Armoury, knights sit on armoured horses in full tournament dress, plumes on their helmets and painted…
