Vienna Hofburg - Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum, Silver Collection

Elisabeth used this room primarily as a reception room. The marble statue in the corner by Antonio Canova represents the muse Polyhymnia and was sent to Vienna in 1816 as a gift of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia to Emperor Franz I. The table set with breakfast things serves as a reminder that the imperial couple occasionally breakfasted together here, a circumstance recorded in the contemporaneous drawing in front of you.

You are now in the empress’s Small Salon. This room was originally hung with portraits of Emperor Franz Joseph and their children, Gisela, Rudolf and Marie Valerie.

Via the Eagle Staircase in the adjoining Leopoldine Wing the empress accessed her apartments through the guards’room and the antechamber. The paintings on the wall take us back to the 18th century, to the time of Maria Theresa. It was this epoch that provided the model for the prevailing neo-Rococo style of interiors favoured by the court during the reign of Franz Joseph. Two of the paintings show scenes from the famous operas Il parnasso confuso by Gluck and Il trionfo d’amore by Gassmann performed by Maria Theresa’s children. One of the paintings shows the empress’s youngest daughter, Marie Antoinette, dancing in a ballet.

The apartments in the north end of the Amalia Wing (towards Ballhausplatz) were occupied by Tsar Alexander of Russia during the Congress of Vienna between 1814 and 1815, when all the sovereigns of Europe gathered in Vienna to redivide Europe following the defeat of Napoleon. When Empress Elisabeth occupied the Amalia Wing, these rooms were used for the empress’s private functions. Between 1916 and 1918, the last Austrian emperor, Karl 1, used this suite for his official rooms.

Last used by Emperor Karl I as a reception room, the Red Salon is decorated with precious tapestries made by the Gobelin factory in Paris in 1772 and 1776. The medallions in these hangings are based on paintings by François Boucher. The furniture, the screen and the fire screen are also upholstered in tapestry. The ensemble formed a part of the gifts given by the French king, Louis XVI, to his brother-in-law, Emperor Joseph II.

In this room you can see a table as it would have been laid for a dinner attended by the emperor’s immediate family during the time of Franz Joseph. Banquets only took place in the great State Rooms of the imperial residence. The table is laid according to the strict guidelines that regulated court ceremonial and which even governed dinners attended by the emperor’s immediate family. The table was always festively decked; in the middle stood gilded centrepieces decorated with flowers, fruit and sweetmeats. On silver cover plates lay elaborately folded damask napkins. Places were only laid for one course at a time. For soup and dessert porcelain plates were used, while all other courses were served on silver plates. The silver cutlery bore the imperial double eagle. Each course was accompanied by a different wine, served in a special glass. The green glasses were used for Rhenish wines. In addition, each person had his or her own wine and water carafes as well as an individual salt-cellar. In order to keep the food fresh and warm, it was transported from the court kitchens to the apartments in heated containers and then kept warm on coal- or later gas-fired warming plates. The emperor sat at the centre of the table facing his guest of honour, the other guests being seated in order of the degree of relationship or rank. Ladies and gentlemen were seated alternately and conversation was only permitted with one’s immediate neighbours at table. Guests were served at the same time as the emperor, who began to eat straight away. Since the course was regarded as over once the emperor had laid down his knife and fork and plates were taken away immediately afterwards, the emperor always took care not to lay down his knife and fork until all his guests had finished eating. A dinner consisted of 9 to 13 courses and lasted a maximum of 45 minutes. Coffee and liqueurs were served afterwards in an adjoining room, where the gentlemen were permitted to smoke.This concludes our tour of the Imperial Apartments. If you’d like to know more about the imperial lifestyle at the Viennese court, why not visit the Imperial Furniture Collection where you can see numerous examples of furniture and interior decoration from many of the Habsburg residences. Opposite the exit of the Imperial Apartments is a station of the U3 underground line: the Imperial Furniture Collection is only three stops and five minutes away. And don’t forget the Imperial Apartments at Schönbrunn Palace, the former summer residence of the imperial family. After leaving the Imperial Apartments you will find yourself on Ballhausplatz, directly beside the entrance to the offices of the Austrian Federal President and opposite the Federal Chancellery. You’ll find a map giving your position at the exit. Finally, we’d like to thank you for your visit, which contributes to the upkeep of the Imperial Apartments. We hope you have a pleasant stay in Vienna!