Hofburg     >>

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The Hofburg was the official seat and residence of the Imperial dynasty, partially a winter residence (the summer was spent at Schönbrunn Palace). The residence has been continuously altered and expanded since the Babenberg era.
Three different wings bear witness to this: the Swiss wing (Treasury), “Stallburg” or Imperial stables (today home to the stables of the Spanish Riding School and the Lipizzaner Museum) and Amalienburg were annexed with further buildings in the following centuries.
The Leopold Wing accommodated the chambers of Emperor Franz I. and Maria Theresia, and is today the office of the Federal President. Here there are the Imperial apartments with the living rooms and reception rooms of Emperor Franz Joseph I. and Empress Elisabeth (Sisi Museum), as well as the Court tableware and silver collection. With its cupola, the Michael Wing forms the main gateway to the city.

Also part of the Hofburg are the Hofkapelle (Imperial chapel), the Austrian National Library and the “Redoutensäle”.
The inner “Burghof”, with the statue of Emperor Franz I of Austria, served as a showground and area for theatre performances.
The New Hofburg on Heldenplatz today houses the Hofburg congress centre, the reading room of the National Library, the Ephesos Museum and the Museum of Mankind.

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