The horse stalls at the Stallburg

Elegant housing for elegant horses

Construction of the Stable Palace began in 1559 under Emperor Ferdinand I as part of extensions to the medieval Hofburg and was, from the start, the stable for the horses of the imperial family. Later it served as a storage space for elements of the imperial art collection, before they were moved to the Belvedere in 1776 under Maria Theresa.

The ground floor of the Stallburg is still home to the stables of the Spanish Riding School today. It was Emperor Charles VI (1685-1740) who once brought the school’s Lipizzaner horses here. The stables on the ground floor have largely retained their Baroque appearance – even the troughs are from the High Baroque era. In 1843 the stables were refurbished with stalls with metal stays and wooden panelling.

In the course of a thorough overhaul of the Stable Palace between 2002 and 2008, the stables on the ground floor were also generously revamped, with the aim of creating additional, spacious stalls for the horses and rooms for the staff. 11 arcades were adapted for extra stalls and a ventilation and vacuum waste system built in.