Description
There are two Baroque palaces built for Prince Eugene, the Unteres (Lower) Belvedere and the Oberes (Upper) Belvedere. They now house the three museums of the Austrian Gallery: the Museum of Medieval Art, the Austrian Baroque Museum and the Museum of 19th and 20th C. Austrian Art. In 1995 the palaces are to undergo complete renovation with the 19th and 20th C. galleries being redesigned so that the temporary closure of some exhibitions is possible during this period. From the Oberes Belvedere there is access to the Alpine Garden. With the Château of Versailles in mind, Prince Eugene, who defeated the Turks, had a summer residence built on the abandoned slope of the Glacis by the Rennweg. Work began in 1700, and Lucas von Hildebrandt devoted 10 years to what was to be his masterpiece. In 1716 the Unteres Belvedere, where Prince Eugene actually lived, was completed. It was only in 1724 that the Oberes Belvedere with its reception rooms was finished. It stands on higher ground. Both palaces are linked by a magnificent garden. Dominique Gerard, a landscape gardener from Paris, designed them in accord with Hildebrandt's overall concept of a terraced park laid out along an axis with cascades and symmetrical flights of stairs and with hedges and paths forming the sides. The sculptures adorning the pools lead symbolically up from the bottom. At the foot can be seen the Underworld with Pluto and Prosperina in the bosquets, then Neptune and Thetis, the deities of water, in the area where the cascades play, together with Apollo and Hercules. From the terrace in front of the Oberes Belvedere there is a wonderful view down over the garden which drops away, and out over the towers of Vienna Woods. After the death of the Prince who remained a bachelor all his life, his heiress - "frightful Victoria", as the Viennese called her, - sold off the entire property without a second thought. The Imperial Court acquired the buildings and the gardens in 1752. A table in the curator's wing of the Upper Belvedere commemorates the death here of Anton Bruckner in 1896. The Emperor had placed the quarters at the disposal of the Court Organist and Composer as a mark of his respect. Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne, lived in the Belvedere between 1894 and 1914, and he was living here at the time of his tragic visit to Sarajevo. It was in the Marble Chamber of the Oberes Belvedere that, on May 15 1955, the Foreign Ministers of France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, the United States and Austria signed the Austrian State Treaty which restored Austria's independence.
Attractions within Belvedere Palaces (Austrian Galleries)

Gallery of the 19th and 20th century

This gallery which is housed in the Upper Belvedere is devoted to Austrian art of the 19th and 20th C. It offers an excellent survey of Austrian artistic endeavor from the end of the Baroque era to
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Baroque Museum

The Austrian Baroque Museum has been housed since 1923 in Prince Eugene's residence, the Unteres Belvedere. It contains a collection of paintings and sculptures from the great age of the Baroque
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Museum of Medieval Art

The Museum of Austrian Medieval Art is housed in the Orangery of the Unteres Belvedere. The collection included masterpieces of sculpture and panel-painting from the end of the 12th C. to the early
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Address
Oberes Belvedere
Prinz Eugenstrasse 27
A-1037 Wien
Austria
Website
Email
Hours
January 1 to March 31
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
OpenClosed10:0010:0010:0010:0010:0010:00
Closed17:0017:0017:0017:0017:0017:00
April 1 to December 31
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
OpenClosed10:0010:0010:0010:0010:0010:00
Closed18:0018:0018:0018:0018:0018:00
Cost
Adult7.50 Euros
Group discounts6.50 Euros
Concession or reduced rate5.00 Euros
Child 18 & under3.00 Euros
Family15.00 Euros
Tips
Photography prohibited.
Guides
Audio-visual presentations available.
Guided tour available as optional extra.
Facilities
Gift shop
Restaurant or food service
Transit
U-Bahn: Karlsplatz (U1, U2, U4), Taubstummengasse (U1); Tram: D, 71.
Attractions Near Belvedere Palaces (Austrian Galleries), Vienna