Chapter 16 – Hofburg palace garden

In the 18th century, the Innere Stadt, or the historical core of the city, was surrounded with bastions – massive soil embankments as the basis of the fortifications. The medieval city wall still existed and limited the free area even more. This is why the palace garden was rather modest, incomparable with the magnificent park design of Schönbrunn.

The Hofburg garden was located southwest of the palace between the main Burgtor (Castle Gate) and the former Löisel bastion. According to the old city maps, the garden could have been easily accessed from the Leopoldine wing where the Imperial family resided. The shortest way should have been through the Bellaria porch.

Today, it is difficult to imagine the palace garden as it used to look. The maps show symmetrical pathways fanning out from the central point (perhaps a fountain) and lined with orderly planted bushes or fences, all in the acknowledged Baroque style, yet rather in miniature.

It is even harder to envision the view from the garden down to the glacis. On the map, it appears plain and broad, regularly sectioned by the alleys of young trees that led to the markets, aristocratic palaces and Imperial garrisons.

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