Eggenberg Palace, Graz facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Eggenberg Palace |
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Schloss Eggenberg
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Aerial view in January 2019
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| General information | |
| Type | Palace |
| Architectural style | Gothic and Baroque |
| Location | Graz, Styria, Austria |
| Coordinates | 47°04′26″N 15°23′29″E / 47.07389°N 15.39129°E |
| Elevation | 365 m (1,198 ft) |
| Current tenants | Palace State Rooms, Alte Galerie, Coin Collection, Roman Stonework Collection, Archaeology Collection |
| Construction started | after 1460 (medieval section), 1625 (Baroque expansion) |
| Completed | c. 1635 (structure), 1685 (accouterments), 1762 (piano nobile) |
| Cost | over 105,000 guilder |
| Client | Universalmuseum Joanneum |
| Owner | The State of Styria |
| Height | 50 m (164 ft) (central tower) |
| Dimensions | |
| Diameter | 65 m x 80 m (palace footprint) |
| Other dimensions | 90,000 m² (palace grounds) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 3 |
| Floor area | 8,000 m² |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Giovanni Pietro de Pomis |
| Other designers | Hans Adam Weissenkircher (court painter) |
| Official name: City of Graz – Historic Centre and Schloss Eggenberg | |
| Type: | Cultural |
| Criteria: | ii, iv |
| Designated: | 1999 (23rd session) |
| Reference #: | 931bis |
| Region: | Europe and North America |
| Extensions: | 2010 (34th session) included Schloss Eggenberg |
| References | |
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Eggenberg Palace (German: Schloss Eggenberg) is a magnificent Baroque palace in Graz, Styria, Austria. It's one of Austria's most valuable cultural treasures. The palace has beautiful gardens and houses special collections from the Universalmuseum Joanneum.
Eggenberg Palace sits on the western edge of Graz. Its design and long history show the power of the House of Eggenberg, a very important family in Styria. In 2010, the palace was added to the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Sites list, along with the Historic Old Town of Graz.
The palace is surrounded by walls and has a large entrance facing west. You can reach it easily by tram. Inside the palace grounds, you'll find the Planetary Garden and a collection of ancient Roman stonework. There's also an Archaeology Museum, which displays the famous Cult Wagon of Strettweg. On the ground floor of the palace, you can explore a coin collection (Coin Cabinet). Upstairs, the Alte Galerie features many paintings, sculptures, and artworks from the Middle Ages to early modern times.
Contents
History
Building the Palace
Eggenberg Palace looks like it was all built at once in the 17th century. But parts of it are much older, dating back to the Late Middle Ages.
Around 1460, Balthasar Eggenberger, a wealthy financier, bought land in Graz. His family built a home there. By 1470, a Gothic chapel was added to a tower. This chapel became the heart of the new palace built by Balthasar's great-grandson, Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg.
Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg was a skilled diplomat and advisor to Emperor Ferdinand II. When the emperor moved his capital to Vienna, Hans Ulrich became the Governor of Inner Austria. He wanted a grand home to show his important new role. In 1625, he hired Giovanni Pietro de Pomis, a court architect, to design the new palace. De Pomis was inspired by El Escorial in Spain.
De Pomis oversaw the construction until he died in 1631. Other builders finished the work, and the main structure was ready by 1635 or 1636. The decorations were completed between 1641 and 1646.
Baroque Style and Art
In 1666, Johann Seyfried von Eggenberg, Hans Ulrich's grandson, decided to make the palace even grander in the Baroque style. In just seven years, about 600 paintings were added to the ceilings of the main rooms on the upper floor. Hans Adam Weissenkircher became the court painter in 1678. He finished the famous Planetary Room in 1684/85. This completed the first phase of decorating Eggenberg Palace.
After the Eggenberg family line ended, the palace rooms were neglected. The husband of the last Eggenberg princess, Johann Leopold Count Herberstein, ordered a big renovation. Between 1754 and 1762, the palace and gardens were updated in the Rococo style. The Planetary Room's paintings stayed the same, but walls, stoves, and furniture were updated. Three special East Asian cabinets were added. The palace theater was also changed into a Baroque church.
In the 19th century, changes were made to the living areas on the first floor. The main upper floor remained untouched. The biggest change was turning the formal Baroque garden into a romantic English-style landscape garden.
The Herberstein family owned the palace until 1939. Before World War II, the State of Styria bought the palace and its park. The Universalmuseum Joanneum, Austria's oldest museum, took over its management. After World War II, the palace was restored and reopened to the public in 1953.
Palace Design and Symbolism
The design of Eggenberg Palace is full of meaning, inspired by ideas about the cosmos and the order of the world. It uses the Gregorian calendar as a guide.
The palace has 365 windows on the outside, one for each day of the year. On the main upper floor, there are 52 windows in 24 rooms, representing the weeks and hours of a day. Each floor has 31 rooms, like the maximum number of days in a month. The 52 windows on the main floor, plus 8 windows in the Planetary Room, total 60, symbolizing minutes and seconds.
The palace is built on a rectangular shape. In the center is a tower with a Gothic chapel. At each corner, there's a tower pointing exactly to one of the four main compass directions, representing the four seasons.
Planetary Room
The Planetary Room is the main hall and the highlight of the 24 state rooms. Its ceiling paintings, created by Hans Adam Weissenkircher, show the four elements, the 12 zodiac signs, and the seven classical "planets" known in ancient times. These paintings connect the palace's design with its art, creating a story about a "Golden Age" ruled by the Eggenberg family.
Piano Nobile
The main upper floor, called the piano nobile, has about 600 ceiling paintings in its 24 rooms. These paintings tell stories from Greek and Roman mythology, religious scenes from the Old Testament, and historical legends.
In the mid-18th century, these rooms were updated in the Rococo style. They received new furniture, chandeliers, and beautiful wall coverings. Five rooms in the north part of this floor feature large painted canvases by Styrian artist Johann Anton Baptist Raunacher. These paintings show scenes like shepherd's games, theater, gambling, and hunting.
Three special East Asian cabinets were also added. Two of them are decorated with valuable Imari porcelain and Chinese silk paintings. The third cabinet has eight panels from a rare Japanese folding screen. This screen shows the palace and fortified town of Osaka before 1615. These panels are very important because few images of Osaka from that time exist. In 2009, a partnership was formed between Eggenberg and Osaka Castle because of this unique screen.
Gardens
The palace and its gardens have always been seen as connected. Over time, different owners made many changes to the gardens.
After the palace was finished in the 17th century, the garden was greatly expanded. It was designed like a strict Italian Renaissance garden, with flowerbeds, tree groves, fountains, and bird enclosures.
Later, Johann Leopold Count Herberstein changed the garden into a French garden. By the 1770s, the Eggenberg Gardens were open for the public to enjoy.
In the early 19th century, people started to dislike the formal Baroque gardens. Jérôme Count Herberstein, a big garden lover, transformed the Eggenberg Schloss Park into a picturesque English garden in 1802. Mazes, fountains, and straight paths were replaced with winding pathways and artificial views, creating the feeling of a natural landscape. The recently restored Rose Mound is a highlight of this 19th-century landscape park.
In the early 20th century, interest in the palace gardens decreased, and they became overgrown. In 1993, a project began to restore the gardens as a cultural monument to Romanticism. The 1848 Breakfast Garden behind the palace has been rebuilt, and the Rose Mound was restored in 2007/08.
Today, peacocks live in the Eggenberg Schloss Park. Both white and blue peacocks roam freely, adding an exotic touch to the park's beauty.
Planetary Garden
In the north corner of the grounds, there's a special enclosed garden. Over the years, it changed many times.
In 2000, a new design for this garden was created, based on an old idea. Landscape architect Helga Tornquist used the palace's cosmic theme to design a modern garden. This garden playfully uses the ancient system of planetary "signatures," which is very important to the meaning of Eggenberg Palace. A Lapidarium (a place for stone objects) was built over the old orangery's foundations. It now displays the Joanneum's collection of Roman stonework.
In 2009, a new underground showroom opened next to the Lapidarium. It houses the Joanneum's Pre- and Early History archaeological collections. This was ready for the Joanneum's 200th anniversary in 2011.
Commemorative Silver Euro Coin
In 2002, the Austrian Mint honored Eggenberg Palace by featuring it on a special 10 euro silver coin. The other side of the coin shows Johannes Kepler, a famous astronomer who taught in Graz and knew the Eggenberg family. His work on the solar system likely influenced the palace's cosmic design.
See also
In Spanish: Palacio de Eggenberg para niños
- List of Baroque residences
