Virtual tour panorama showing the main courtyard of Schloss Eggenberg palace in Graz. This is an amazing castle, well worth the visit, with stunning state rooms, and an important tourist attraction in Graz.

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

The 17th century Schloss Eggenberg palace one of the most important Baroque palaces in Styria, Austria and, rightfully therefore, one of the most important tourist attractions in Graz. There is so much to see here that the palace and surrounding grounds can take a whole day to visit fully. Some of the highlights of Schloss Eggenberg include:

• State Rooms - 24 finely decorated Baroque rooms form the piano nobile on the second floor of the palace, open to the public by guided tours and recognized as the best collection of state rooms in Austria.
• Gothic Chapel - one of the oldest parts of the palace, built in 1470.
• Alte Galerie - Art Gallery containing hundreds of items covering 500 years of European art.
• Coin Cabinet - collection of Styrian and other coins from Roman times to the modern day.
• 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

The origin of Schloss Eggenberg dates from the Late Middle Ages when Balthasar Eggenberger, financier to Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, bought property here around 1460. Over the next 10 years he built the Gothic Chapel in the tower. Then in 1625 Prince Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg, an important advisor to Emperor Ferdinand II, commissioned Giovanni Pietro de Pomis to redesign his palace. This phase of construction and alterations was completed in 1646.

Further work on Schloss Ebbenberg began a short time later in 1666 under the hand of Johann Seyfried von Eggenberg, the grandson of Hand Ulrich. This phase lasted 7 years during which the nearly 600 Baroque paintings covering the panels within the state rooms were painted. 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. 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.

Aptly, this stunning palace is considered one of the crown jewels of Graz.

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

Tram: Schloss Eggenberg (1).