Laxenburg castles

The Laxenburg castles stand beside the village of Laxenburg, twelve kilometres south of Vienna. They belong to the Habsburgs from the fourteenth century onwards. The Blauer Hof palace was the birthplace of Crown Prince Rudolf and Archduchess Gisela. Franzensburg castle sits on an island in the middle of the garden’s ponds. The whole estate once served as a summer retreat for the imperial family.

The castles preserve paintings and furnishings from past centuries. The Blauer Hof’s Rococo interior dates from the reign of Empress Maria Theresa. The church beside the palace was the first north of the Alps to show high-Baroque curved façades. In the late eighteenth century the garden became an English landscape park with artificial lakes and winding paths.

Visitors walk through the palace rooms and along the garden’s broad avenues. The island castle can be reached by bridge over the water. The park contains several ponds and shaded clearings. Events, concerts and conferences take place in the palaces each year. The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis now occupies part of the estate.