Josefsplatz is dominated by the equestrian statue of Emperor Joseph the Second, which stands directly in the center of the rectangular courtyard. The square serves as the quiet, formal approach to the Hofburg Palace complex. In seventeen…
Imperial Hofburg Palace Walk
Walk the monumental grounds of the Habsburg winter residence to see how Austrian emperors used grand architecture, stables, and squares to project their sheer imperial ambition.
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1. Josefsplatz
2. Stallburg
The Stallburg stands out for its high, narrow arcade courtyard, where three tiers of elegant Tuscan columns wrap around the space. Originally built in the sixteenth century as a residence for the crown prince, it soon became the imperial…
3. Michaelerplatz
Michaelerplatz holds a circular sunken pit right in its center, revealing layers of Roman ruins and medieval foundations beneath the modern cobblestones. This excavation exposes the ancient military camp of Vindobona, where soldiers…
4. Innerer Burghof Hofburg Wien
The Innerer Burghof is defined by the Amalienburg wing, where the facade is crowded with hundreds of distinct stone carvings of masks, garlands, and warriors. This courtyard served as the private center of the sprawling Hofburg palace for…
5. Swiss gate
The Burgtor, or Swiss Gate, is the massive stone portal anchoring the Heldenplatz. It stands as a heavy, symmetrical barrier between the palace grounds and the Ringstrasse. When Emperor Franz the First commissioned it in eighteen…
6. Heldenplatz
Heldenplatz features a sprawling, gravel-covered expanse framed by the massive, curved facade of the Neue Burg. It serves as the outer courtyard of the Hofburg Palace, designed in the late nineteenth century as a grand symbol of imperial…
7. Neue Burg
The Neue Burg features a massive, curved facade of sandstone that stretches along the Heldenplatz like a colossal, unfinished bow. It serves as the final, grand expansion of the Hofburg palace complex, intended to house the imperial…
8. Outer Castle Gate
The Burgtor, or Outer Castle Gate, sits at the edge of the Heldenplatz as a massive, triple-arched stone passage. Built between eighteen twenty-one and eighteen twenty-four, it replaced a gate destroyed by Napoleon’s troops during the…
9. Volksgarten
The Volksgarten is defined by the rose gardens that bloom in hundreds of varieties across its central lawns. Originally, this ground was part of the city fortifications, cleared by Napoleon's troops in eighteen zero nine when they blew up…