| Oberes Belvedere Palace (picture by Peter Watts) |  |
Oberes Belvedere Palace
Oberes Belvedere Palace
The Belvedere palace was designed by Lukas von Hildebrandt for Prince Eugène of Savoy. The complex consists of two superb Baroque mansions which face each other across sloping gardens. Upper Belvedere was built between 1720-1724, shortly after it's lower partner. It is almost twice the size of Lower Belvedere with an unusual roofline. The purpose of the Oberes Belvedere was to hold masked balls, firework parties and other receptions put on by the Prince.In 1955 the signing of the Austrian State Treaty took place in the Marmorsaal (central marble hall) Oberes Belvedere, finally restoring Austria as an independent state after its annexation by Germany in WWII.
Oberes Belvedere now functions as an art museum, and the entrance is on the south side of the building. There are permanent exhibits of 19C and 20C art, and temporary displays are held in the Gartnsaal which is decorated by l'oeil frescoes. Highlights of the collection housed here include the Plain at Auvers. by Vincent van Gough, alongside which hangs the Rack Railway on the Kahlenberg. by Richard Gerstl and Egon Shiele's Interior 1907.
Works by Gustav Klimt cover a range of his life and include The Kiss, several notable portraits and a variety of landscape work. One of the rooms holding his work oversees the Schlosskapelle, richly gilded and looking much as it would have done in the day of Prince Eugene.
Address:
Oberes Belvedere
Prinz Eugenstrasse 27
A-1037 Wien
Austria
Transport:
U-Bhan : (U1) Südtirolerplatz
Bus / Tram : 13A, 18, D and all others that stop at Südtirolerplatz
