Burggarten — Attraction in Vienna

The Burggarten is a former palace garden, located near the Hofburg, the imperial palace of the Habsburg monarchs. Today it is a pleasant public park with a number of statues and an elegant palm house. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Vienna was still surrounded by a defensive wall, at a time when most cities in Europe had started to demolish city fortifications. The wall proved useless in stopping Napoleon from occupying Vienna, and in 1809, when Napoleon left, he demolished large parts of the defensive wall.

This created space around the Hofburg, and part of it was used to create a private palace garden, the Burggarten. The garden was laid out in an informal English style. In 1918, with the fall of the Habsburg Empire, the park opened to the public.

Monuments

Mozart Denkmal

There are several monuments in the park, including a fountain with a statue depicting Hercules fighting with a lion. The eighteenth-century statue was installed at the center of the Burggarten's pond in 1948.

The solemn statue of Emperor Franz-Joseph I was created in 1904 and moved to its current location in 1957. A more classical equestrian statue shows Emperor Franz I, spouse of Empress Maria-Theresia.

The most photographed statue in the Burggarten is undoubtedly the Mozart Denkmal, created in 1896 by the Austrian sculptor...

Part of this redesign was the creation of a private garden or park for the Imperial family, long known as the Kaisergarten. The area was extended in 1863, then reduced again a few decades later to create space for the Neue Burg palace extension.

It was renamed the Burggarten in 1919, given the change from monarchy to republic after WWI. It’s surrounded by the Ring boulevard, the Neue Burg, the butterfly house and palm house, and Goethegasse (a street named after the famous German footballer writer).

The park offers pleasant views of its historical surrounds, a shortcut to the Albertina museum (out the main gate to the northeast), a little respite from sightseeing crowds, and four monuments and statues, which you can see in the slideshow below:

The Mozart monument (completed in 1896 and moved to the Burggarten in 1953) Hercules and the Nemean lion (created around the turn of the 19th century and incorporated into a small fountain feature in the Burggarten pond in 1948) Emperor Franz Joseph (from 1903 and moved here in 1957) Franz I – husband of Empress Maria Theresia – on his horse (from 1781 and moved...

Burggarten (Vienna) is a beautiful public park located in the heart of the city, right next to the Hofburg Palace. It was originally built in the early 19th century as a private garden for Emperor Franz Joseph I, following the Napoleonic Wars. Today, it’s open to the public and offers a peaceful green escape amidst the bustling city.

The park features well-maintained lawns, elegant walking paths, and several impressive statues, including a famous monument of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of Austria’s most celebrated composers. The statue is surrounded by a floral treble clef during the warmer months, which makes it a popular photo spot.

Burggarten is also home to the Palmenhaus, a stunning Art Nouveau-style glass greenhouse that now functions as a café and houses exotic plants. Right next to it is the Schmetterlinghaus (Butterfly House), where visitors can see hundreds of free-flying tropical butterflies in a lush indoor environment.

Whether you’re interested in history, nature, or just want a quiet place to relax, Burggarten is a charming and historically rich spot worth...