Hofburg: what to see during the visit
Located in the Innere Stadt district of Vienna, the Hofburg is the place where – since the thirteenth century – Austrian political power has concentrated. Here, in fact, lived the kings and emperors of the Holy Roman Empire and the Germanic nation, but also the emperors of Austria; currently, however, it is the residence of the federal presidents. As it appears now, the building is a complex of buildings built over the course of six hundred years without a unitary and coherent project: observing it in plan, in fact, it is perfectly visible how each body of the building has been added to the previous ones in an almost random manner. A visit to its more than two hundred and forty thousand square meters of extension, therefore, is particularly complex: here are the five main attractions from which to start.
The Treasury
In German Kaiserliche Schatzkammer, la Treasury Chamber it is the section of the Hofburg that preserves the most precious objects that belonged to the Habsburgs and beyond. In fact, walking through a dozen rooms, you can also come into contact with the insignia of the Holy Roman Empire, with the crown and scepter that belonged to Charlemagne, with the crown of Rudolph II which later became the symbol of the Austrian Empire and with the spear. sacred used to strike one of the nails of the cross of Christ.
Access costs € 14 for adults, while it is free for children under the age of nineteen.
The Imperial Apartments
The Imperial Apartments they are a path of eighteen rooms through which it is possible to walk inside the rooms that, in the past, belonged to Francesco Giuseppe and Sissi. Visiting them is therefore a way to touch the life of time, if you have not managed to foresee an in-depth visit to the Schönbrunn Palace. Among the proposed environments are private homes, offices and reception rooms where the emperor and empress held their political meetings.
The Silverware Museum
The Hofburg wing which houses the Imperial Chancellery collects in Silverware Museum all the furnishing accessories of the Austrian imperial table. Among these, the most famous one used, takes the name of Milanese table triumph: commissioned to Luigi Manfredini, the service came in 1838 on the occasion of the dinner that followed the coronation of Ferdinand as king of the Lombard-Veneto Kingdom. Walking through the rooms, however, you will discover other interesting tools all united by incredible splendor: it is fun, then, to know that at the court there was also the professional figure of the Grand Master of the Silverware Chamber, a true specialist in equipment.
The Sissi museum
Still with an Empire theme, the Hofburg complex also hosts the Sissi Museum entirely dedicated to the princess: a place besieged by tourists from all over the world intent on discovering something more about the beloved Empress Elizabeth. The exhibition is located in Stefano’s Apartment and was opened to the public for the first time only in 2004. Here, the windows protect the personal objects of the woman by building a path that, thanks to the skill of the curator Rolf Langenfass, aims to reveal the true personality of the sovereign, today extraordinarily fictionalized by the many books, films and TV series that have told her. The entire journey is also accompanied by the lyrics actually composed by Sissi when she was alive.
Access to this area of the Hofburg costs € 16 for adults and € 10 for children: however, it is a cumulative ticket which, in a single ticket, also includes admission to the Imperial Apartments and at the Silverware Museum. Not to be confused, however, with the Sisi Ticket which – in addition to these three attractions – allows a visit to the Schönbrunn Palace and the Vienna Furniture Museum.
The Spanish Riding School
Born as the home of Maximilian II, the Imperial Stables have to be used as real stables only years later and, currently, they are the headquarters of the Spanish riding school: a place where, even today, Lipizzan horses continue to be trained. The visit allows you to enter an indoor riding stable in full Baroque style, but also – if desired – to attend training sessions and performances.