For many centuries, hunting was the main leisure activity of the Viennese aristocracy; the city was surrounded by thick gamy forests. Most of the Emperors, including Karl VI and Franz Stephan, were passionate hunters. The ladies of the court also appreciated it as a form of entertainment and many of them were experienced in huntsmanship, with both Empresses Maria Theresa and Elisabeth Christine, her mother, having been sharpshooters.
All thing related to the hunt belonged to the area of responsibility of the Oberstallmeister (Master of Stables), who supervised quite an extended personnel: trappers, huntsmen, rifles bearers, kennel servants, gamekeepers and more. For last ten years of his life, Prince Schwarzenberg held this position at the court of Karl VI.
True, hunting as a pastime was not necessarily a great scene to behold. Killing wild animals driven together often looked rather like a slaughter or massacre. An exceptionally cruel form of public entertainment was Fuchsprellen, or fox bouncing, where panic-stricken animals were thrown up on a blanket-like cloth held between two persons. Upon falling to the ground, they usually broke their bones and were killed with clubs. Fortunately, these types of ‘pleasures’ gradually vanished in the run of the more sensitive Rococo era.
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