Neuerlaa

The forecast today called for a cool to downright chilly day — especially when the wind was blowing and the sun was hiding. Periods of light rain, too.

Well, wouldn’t you know it? The rain found us when we left the imperial and state apartments behind to stroll the grounds at Schloss Schönbrunn. The good news? By the time we were ready to climb up to the crest of Schönbrunn Hill, the sun was out and the rain had moved on … at least for a while.

The palace grounds are quite extensive … just under .4 square miles. And like the palace, they are UNESCO-listed. The area referred to as the park was opened to the public in 1779. No admission charged then or now, it is a popular recreational space for both locals and visitors. Some of the gardens — such as the Privy Garden, the Maze, and the Orangery — require admission … in our case, included in the Classic Pass we had pre-booked. (Though today the Orangery seemed to be open to anyone who wished to enter … because it was undergoing some restoration work.)

A mix of woodland, topiary, flowering shrubs, rare plants, and landscaped parterres make up the grounds … studded with statues and fountains. Alas, this time of the year, there weren’t many colorful flowers to delight us. As lovely as we found the grounds today, I can only imagine how spectacular they must be in the spring and summer.

We began our stroll — the hoods of our rain jackets pulled up and our umbrellas open to keep the camera from getting wet — at the Kronprinzengarten [Crown Princes’s Garden] … more commonly referred to as the Privy Garden. Dating back to the 18th century, it served as a private retreat for the imperial family. On three sides is a pergola covered in Virginia creeper. Providing shade when the sun is shining, today it served to shield us from the rain. Between the palace and the viewing platform, landscaped parterres added an element of formality to the scene our eyes beheld.

From this garden, we found the turnstile that got us into the park. We followed long, pebble-strewn dirt paths … meandering here and there to check out some of the statues and water features … small and large … the highlights of which for us were the Roman Ruins Fountain (once known as the Ruin of Carthage; built in 1778) and the Neptune Fountain (the crowning feature of the Great Parterre; commissioned by Empress Maria Theresa in the 1770s).

From the Great Parterre we followed the zig-zag path up Schönbrunn Hill to the Gloriette, a colonnaded belvedere that was built in 1775.

We thank the sun for gracing us with blue skies at this point as the view down towards the palace — with Vienna stretching far beyond it — was simply the crowning touch to our visit to Schloss Schönbrunn.Read more