Antechamber

Displayed in this room are portrait of Habsburgs who played major roles in the early history of Schönbrunn. Among them are Emperor Maximilian II (1527–1576), who acquired the grounds of the later palace complex as a game reserve in 1569, and Eleonora of Gonzaga (1598–1655), second wife of Emperor Ferdinand II, who had an early Baroque mansion and gardens built here, known from 1642 by the name of Schönbrunn.

The Baroque palace is recalled by the portrait of Emperor Joseph I (1678–1711), for whom Fischer von Erlach designed the palatial hunting lodge, on which work started in 1696. Next to Joseph is a portrait of his consort Wilhelmine Amalie (1673–1742), who used Schönbrunn as her dower residence following her husband’s untimely death.

The windows of this room look onto the Schönbrunn Palace Children’s Museum. Here our younger visitors can learn all about daily life at the imperial court and have fun dressing up in period costume.