History Student Anjali From Vienna

Anjali lives in Vienna, Austria with her family. Anjali is a student of history in University of Vienna. Anjali was born in India but raised in Vienna.

Anjali told us about this photo that it was taken when she was going visiting Austrian landmarks. She visited Schönbrunn Palace, a royal residence in Austia, Veinna.

Being a historian Anjali loves to talk about history, she doesn’t get bored when talking about this topic. Anjali told about Schonbrunn palace that in the year 1569, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II purchased a large floodplain of the Wien River beneath a hill, situated between Meidling and Hietzing, where a former owner, in 1548, had erected a mansion called Katterburg. The emperor ordered the area to be fenced and put game there such as pheasants, ducks, deer and boar, in order to serve as the court’s recreational hunting ground. In a small separate part of the area, “exotic” birds like turkeys and peafowl were kept. Fishponds were built, too.

The name Schönbrunn (meaning “beautiful well”) has its roots in an artesian well from which the court consumed water.

During the next century, the area was used as a hunting and recreation ground. Especially Eleonore Gonzaga, who loved hunting, spent much time there and was bequeathed the area as her widow’s residence after the death of her husband, Ferdinand II. From 1638 to 1643, she added a palace to the Katterburg mansion, while in 1642 came the first mention of the name “Schönbrunn” on an invoice. The origins of the Schönbrunn orangery seem to go back to Eleonore Gonzaga as well. In the Turkish siege of 1683, the buildings were destroyed, and never restored.