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 Welcome to Imperial Palace [Hofburg]
This enormous complex is a bold symbol of the power that the Habsburg monarch once held in Europe. The 13th century Schweizerhof (Swiss Courtyard) is the heart of the Hofburg. Of the complex’s medieval core, only the Burgkapelle (Imperial Chapel), where reservations are required two months in advance to attend the Sunday Mass with the Vienna Boys Choir, remains.
The decorated suites of emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth (Kaiserappartements) with the fine furniture, tapestries and bulbous crystal chandeliers can be viewed. The sheer wealth exhibited in the Schatzkammer (Imperial Treasury) collection of crown jewels is staggering: one room contains a 2860-carat Colombian emerald, a 416- carat balas ruby and a 492-carat aquamarine.
The New Castle contains the Ephesos Museum, the Museum of Folklore, furthermore Europe’s most wide-ranging collection of weapons and a collection of musical instruments. Here, too, are the state chamber of the National Library and the famous Spanische Reitschule (Spanish Riding School), where the Lipizzaner stallions go through their paces and perform an equine ballet to a program of classical music (perform reservations are booked up months in advance and tickets are expensive; horses train can be bought on the day, except during July and August).
One of the most important opera houses in the world, Staatsoper (State Opera), is situated at the eastern part of Hofburg, adjacent to Burggarten. It stages top performances of the classic operas. At the south-west there are Naturhistorisches Museum (Natural History Museum) which holds collections of early Stone Age artifacts, zoological materials and meteorites and Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Arts), two Vienna’s renowned museums, are located.
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