Schloss Schonbrunn by night

Schloss Schonbrunn was the summer residence of the Hapsburgs. It has a baroque landscaped park, the oldest zoo in the world and is one of Austria's most important cultural monuments. Emperor Maximilian II bought the manor house on this site in 1559, extended it and added a zoo. It was then destroyed during the Turkish siege of 1683. Leopoldo I commissioned an imperial residence to be built for his son Joseph I in 1696. It's heyday however really began in the 18th century when the entire court moved here each summer. Along with the Emperor and Empress came 2,000 servants, ladies-in-waiting, gardeners and craftsmen. The palace suffered severe damage in World War II. The public rooms re-opened to visitors in 1948. The palace has 1,441 rooms of which 40 are open to the public.