Part 4 of the Ultimate Vienna trip! Whoa - apologies for the delay between posts...but I've been really, really busy with readings! Even though I've only started about a month ago, I've got so many things to do and read!
Anyway back to Vienna. Today's post will be on the Hofburg Palace. But before that, we went to Demel - a famous pastry shop in Vienna. Demel was founded in 1786, and was founded by Ludwig Dehne. Ludwig Dehne's son - August Dehne then gave the shop to Christof Demel, and he moved the shop to the Kohlmarkt - where it stayed. And that was the branch we visited!
Here's the inside! It's so gorgeous...we were seated on the second floor, where there were beautiful chandeliers and paintings.
Bought some cakes to start off with - and gosh, they were absolutely delicious!! I loved them all! Had to take pics of some of them before they all got devoured.
Because it was winter, my metabolic rate shot skyhigh - so I ordered some Viennese pasta to go along with the pastries...plus a hot chocolate, which was also really delicious!
Since we were in the city centre, and I had already taken some night scenes (refer to Part 1 of this series) of the city, I decided to take a couple of day scenes. It was cloudy (and it stayed cloudy for our whole visit!), so the lighting was really appropriate for me! The buildings were so well preserved...and the intricate carvings were just so magical...I really love Vienna for all the historical buildings and attractions! And of course, I hope to go back sometime soon!
Moving on to the Hofburg Palace - a major attraction in the city centre of Vienna...
The Hofburg Palace housed some of the most powerful people in Viennese history, and currently serves as the official residence for the President of Austria. During the Habsburg dynasty, the Hofburg Palace was the winter palace, while the Schonbrunn Palace was the summer palace (more to the Schonbrunn Palace soon!). The Hofburg Palace is currently heritage-listed - existing since the 1200s, and some parts of it is open to the public. These include a library, and some museums, including the Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum (commemorating Empress Elisabeth), Epheseus Museum, Art History Museum and many more. The Spanish Riding School (featured in one of the previous posts) is also part of the Hofburg buildings.
Walking into the grand Hofburg Palace...all the while being fascinated by the wonderful architecture. I can happily say that I've seen the Hofburg Palace both in the day AND at night!
We passed the Imperial Chancellery Building once we entered. The Imperial Chancellery Building was constructed as part of a father-son project. This building housed the offices of the Imperial Vice Chancellor, and subsequently housed the residence of Emperor Joseph I after the end of the Holy Roman Empire.
More decorations, carvings and statues along the way. We went to the iconic Library within the Hofburg, but didn't stay long...as we wanted to move on to other places.
Nevertheless - we HAD to take some pics of the Neue Berg section - as seen from the Heldenplatz. This section is probably one of the most photographed parts of the palace (not surprising, considering that it features a statue of Prince Eugene of Savoy...intricate carvings, and of course, is one of the main features of the Hofburg Palace).
Check out the amazing details on the facade! This included a number of intricate statues of historical features.
Zoomed in with my telephoto lens and spotted this beautiful statue in the distance...
The grounds of the Hofburg Palace were massive! But so majestic. We decided to move on to another part of the Palace - the famous gates...which then led out to a Christmas market. The Christmas market was really crowded but was located in a really beautiful area surrounded by historical buildings (the buildings even looked like twins!)...
As we walked to the Austrian Parliament Building, I couldn't help but notice these gorgeous buildings along the way. I reckon a lot of my focus was placed on the details of the beautiful buildings...
The Austrian Parliament Building is another work of art! It's situated on the Ringstrasse - where many other iconic buildings were located, and it was completed in 1883. The design featured a Greek revival style - with an iconic fountain (Pallas Athena) right in front of the facade. The building currently houses the National Council and Federal Council of Austria, and is an important site for state ceremonies. These include the swearing in of the President, and the state speech for National Day.
The pillars of the building were in Corinthian style, and the design of the building was inspired mainly by the Zappeion in Athens (Greece).
Zoomed in a little so that I could get some details of the famous fountain. The Goddess of Wisdom (Athena) stands right on top of a Corinthian pillar, holding Nike in her right hand an a spear on the left. She is surrounded by little cupids, dolphins, and figures representing the four most important rivers of the Austro-Hungarian empire (Danube, Inn, Elbe and Vltava).
We also passed the Rathaus of Vienna (Town Hall) while on our way back to the car. The Rathaus serves as the seat for the mayor and city council of Vienna, and was built between 1872 and 1883.
And right in front of the Rathaus was another Christmas market! This one was really brightly lit as the evening was fast approaching. Even the Rathaus was lit up by the time we reached it.
Our last destination - the Burgtheater, also known as "die Burg" by the Viennese. The Burgtheater was opened in 1741, and served as a popular concert hall for many performances, including that of Beethoven's First Symphony, Mozart's Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (Abduction of the Seraglio), Le Nozze Di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) and Cosi Fan Tutte. The Burgtheater was situated really near the Town Hall - I reckon it was less than 5 minutes away.
And that's it for today's post! In my next post, I'll put up pics of the Schonbrunn Palace, also known as Schloss Schonbrunn! Do stay tuned!