Panorama taken from the front of Schloss Eggenberg in Graz. This is an amazing castle, well worth the visit, with stunning state rooms.

Schloss Eggenberg - Graz visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Schloss Eggenberg' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Styria.

Schloss Eggenberg is one of the top tourist attractions in Graz and one of the most important Baroque palaces in Styria. A visit to Schloss Eggenberg can easily take most of the day, there is so much to see. Highlights include:

• State Rooms - 24 finely decorated Baroque rooms form the piano nobile on the second floor of the palace. This is the best collection within Austria, open to the public by guided tours only.
• Coin Cabinet - collection of Styrian and other coins from Roman times to the modern day.
• Alte Galerie - Art Gallery containing hundreds of items covering 500 years of European art.
• Gothic Chapel - one of the oldest parts of the palace, built in 1470.
• Archaeology Museum - with over 12,000 archaeological items including the Strettweg Chariot, Kleinklein Mask and the ornate vessels from the graves in Grossklein and Strettweg.
• Palace Gardens - with the Master's Garden, Rose Mound, Planetary Garden, cafe and children's playground and the ubiquitous peacock.

Schloss Eggenberg - A History

Schloss Eggenberg began in the Late Middle Ages when Balthasar Eggenberger, financier to Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, bought property around 1460. Within 10 years he built the Gothic Chapel in the tower.

In 1625 Prince Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg, a principal advisor to Emperor Ferdinand II commissioned Giovanni Pietro de Pomis to redesign his palace. The project was finally completed in 1646.

Schloss Ebbenberg then had a few years rest before Johann Seyfried von Eggenberg, the grandson of Hand Ulrich, commissioned further work in 1666. It was during the next 7 years that nearly 600 Baroque paintings covered the panels within the state rooms, giving us much of the stunning interior we have today. The most famous of these is the Planetary Room, completed by Hans Adam Weissenkircher in 1684/85.

Shortly after this the male line of the Eggenberg family died out and the husband of the last Eggenberg princess ordered a comprehensive renewal of the complex. The work took place between 1754 and 1762, incorporating Rococo wall decorations and furniture but, thankfully, leaving most of the paintings intact.

In the 19th century further changes were made to the residential quarters and the gardens were extensively landscaped in an romantic English Garden layout. Once again the piano nobile was left intact. Then in 1939 Schloss Eggenberg was acquired by the Joanneum museum who undertook restoration work after the palaces was damaged during WWII and then opened it to the public. Today, this magnificent palace is one of the crown jewels of Graz.

Eggenberger Allee 90
8020 Graz, Österreich
Phone: +43-316/8017-9532

Tram: Schloss Eggenberg (1).