Hofburg Palace

The Hofburg (German: [ˈhoːfbʊʁk]) is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty in Austria. Located in the center of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century by Ottokar II of Bohemia and expanded several times afterwards. It also served as the imperial winter residence, as Schönbrunn Palace was the summer residence. Since 1946, it has been the official residence and workplace of the president of Austria.

Since 1279, the Hofburg area has been the documented seat of government. The Hofburg has been expanded over the centuries to include various residences (with the Amalienburg and the Albertina), the imperial chapel (Hofkapelle or Burgkapelle), the imperial library (Hofbibliothek), the treasury (Schatzkammer), the Burgtheater, the Spanish Riding School (Hofreitschule), the imperial mews (Stallburg and Hofstallungen).

The palace faces the Heldenplatz (Heroes' Square) ordered under the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I, as part of what was planned to become the Kaiserforum but which was never completed.

Numerous architects have executed work at the Hofburg as it expanded, notably the Italian architect-engineer Filiberto Luchese, Lodovico Burnacini and Martino and Domenico Carlone, the Baroque architects Lukas von Hildebrandt and Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach, Johann Fischer von Erlach, and the architects of the Neue Burg built between 1881 and 1913.

Text adapted from “Hofburg” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Hofburg Palace ranks #41 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #3 of the 200 mapped in Austria. Founded 1279, it is older than 67% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 825 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 47,959 times in the last 60 days, more than 99% of the atlas. 35 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Vienna, 1 km away. See how Austria compares in the castle statistics.

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