Belvedere Palace & Gardens

At the turn of the eighteenth century, famed military commander Prince Eugene of Savoy purchased a tract of land in Vienna and commissioned Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt to design the Belvedere, a complex of two palaces and gardens. He secured Dominique Girard to plan the formal gardens that unroll from the steps of the upper palace and slowly descend to its lower counterpart. Girard had previously landscaped the grounds at Schlessheim and Nymphenburg for Bavarian ruler Max Emmanuel. Royal visits to the exquisitely manicured lawns of Versailles inspired the spread of French designs and competition for grandeur between European princes. For the Belvedere Gardens, Girard created terraces of parterres (flat planting beds surrounded by shaped hedges) connected by grand staircases and graveled paths. Fountains and water displays pepper the garden, ornamented with marble statuary by sculptor Giovanni Stanetti. The Upper Belevedere was designed primarily for pomp and display, as reflected in the elegant sala terrena, or ground floor hall, grand staircase, majestic marble hall, and the chapel with an exquisite altarpiece by Francesco Solimena (1657-1747) as well as frescos by Carlo Carlone (1686-1775) and ceiling paintings by Giacomo del Pò (1654-1726). Scenes from the life of Alexander the Great line the grand staircase and are meant to evoke the great military successes of Prince Eugene. The decorative plasterwork of the Upper Belvedere was executed by Santino Bussi (1664–1736), the leading stucco artist of that time. In 1919 the Belvedere became a museum owned by Austria. Bomb attacks in 1944 and 1945 greatly damaged both the upper and lower palaces, and after the war ended they were carefully restored. However, due to pollution and the inadequate restoration of the WWII damage, the Upper Belvedere’s sala terrena and grand staircase had lost much of their original character.

1996 World Monuments Watch

Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the final resident of Belvedere palace, which was converted into the Austria Gallery Museum after World War I. The last restoration of the gardens, however, was in 1851 and they only suffered more damage and neglect during the first half of the twentieth century. WMF placed the Belvedere Gardens on the 1996 Watch List in an attempt to reveal the state of disrepair of the much-loved Viennese landmark. In the late 1990s, the Austrian government ordered an inquiry into the condition of the structural elements. WMF joined The Austrian Society for Historical Gardens and other conservation organizations to compile a long-term strategy for the return of the gardens to their original style and condition. The plan included renovation of trellises, pavilions, fountain elements, and a new cafe. A WMF Wilson Challenge grant contributed to the funds for reconstruction, specifically enabling the repair of the unsound western ramp and the introduction of a cistern for irrigation water. In November 2009 a WMF and the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere began a project to conserve the sala terrena and grand staircase of the Upper Belvedere. Work finished in April 2011 and the new space was inaugurated during a ceremony in early September of that year.

Overlooking historic downtown Vienna, the Belvedere Gardens are one of the city's most famous destinations. Despite their popularity with tourists, in the twentieth century the grounds of the palace had been neglected and were exposed to pollution and vandalism of the marble statues. The decision to restore the gardens in the original French baroque style is enabled by increased understanding of historic gardening techniques and reflects growing concern with accuracy in preservation. In 2005, citizens waving flags gathered in the beautifully renewed gardens, commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the treaty signed at Belvedere which ended the post-war occupation and established Austria as a sovereign state.