The Stallburg at the Hofburg

From stables to art gallery

The Stallburg or Stable Palace is one the oldest architectural tracts at the Hofburg and furthermore the only surviving Renaissance palace in the Austrian capital.

Construction of the Stable Palace dates back to Emperor Ferdinand I (1503-1564) whose wish it was to build a residence for his son Maximilian in 1559. But after Ferdinand’s death in 1564, Maximilian II (1527-1576) moved into his father’s home, the Swiss Wing of the Hofburg. He had his intended residence converted into court stables for the horses of the Imperial Household and developed vertically from 1565. Some of the art belonging to the imperial family, such as Archduke Leopold Wilhelm’s collection, were stored on the second floor.

The Stable Palace was subject to severe bomb damage in 1945, shortly before the end of WW2. In the years following, from 1947 to 1948, it was reconstructed in the original manner. The arcade walkway between the Hofburg and Stallburg was opened on July 1, 1948. The Renaissance arches in the courtyard, which had been walled up for over 300 years, were uncovered between 1955 and 1960 and restored to their former glory.

A renovation campaign from 2002 to 2008 included the refurbishment of those rooms at the Stable Palace which had been damaged by water used to put out the fire in the Redouten Halls in 1992. In 2007 the natural stone facades of the arcade walkway in the inner courtyard were restored. At the same time 11 arcades were added on the ground floor to allow for extra horses’ stalls.

In 2008 a mobile roof construction was built, capable of providing shelter for the 1000 m2 arcade courtyard, which could now be used for events regardless of the weather conditions.