Leopoldinischer Trakt

The Leopoldine Wing is part of Vienna’s Hofburg Palace, linking the Amalienburg Wing to the Swiss Wing. Built in the 1660s under Emperor Leopold I, it was designed by Filiberto Lucchese with Italian master builders Carl Martin Carlone and Domenico Carlone overseeing construction. Local stonemasons from Kaisersteinbruch supplied the hard stone for the façade, cornices and grand staircase, while Urban Illmayr worked softer stone for interior details. At the western end stands the Chamber Chapel, restored by Maria Theresa in 1772. After the second Turkish siege in 1683, Giovanni Pietro Tencalla raised the wing by an extra storey and gave it a Baroque appearance. In 1752 Elias Hügel and Johann Baptist Regondi added the balcony above the main entrance. Beneath the wing lay the vast Hofburg cellars, and the Secret Council Chamber occupied part of this floor. Emperor Francis Joseph delivered his opening speeches here to the Austro-Hungarian delegation, and on 28 June 1900 Archduke Franz Ferdinand swore his renunciation of the throne in this very room. Today the Leopoldine Wing houses the Federal President’s offices and the Chancellery of the President, which moved here in late 1946 from the Federal Chancellery opposite Ballhausplatz. The wing also contains the Hofburg police station. Visitors can walk through the grand staircase lined with Kaiserstein, pass the restored Chamber Chapel, and glimpse the former Secret Council Chamber where Francis Joseph spoke and Franz Ferdinand took his oath.