Schonbrunn castle

Rick rarely, if ever, posts on the forum. However I will make a comment. The episode to which you are referring was not intended to be a half hour show on Schonbrunn Palace. It was to show some of the highlights to be found in Vienna and nearby areas of the Danube.

Similarly, he does not spend most of the London episodes discussing Buckingham Palace, or the Paris episodes focusing only on Versailles.

I know all of that but it's such a beautiful place I thought it deserved a little more attention.
Have you ever been there?

Yes, 3 times. It's a lovely Palace, and the grounds are beautifully laid out.

The same architect who designed Versailles.

That is definitely not the case. Although the Palace of Versailles marked the peak of baroque palace architecture, being the role model for other palaces throughout Europe, the Palace of Schönbrunn (in its current form) was built nearly a century later.

Given the political (and cultural) rivalry between the Kingdom of France and the Austrian Empire it would have been very unlikely that there was an exchange of architects.

Versailles was mainly built by Louis Le Vau, François d'Orbay, Charles Le Brun (interiors especially), Jules Hardouin-Mansart and Robert de Cotte.

Schönbrunn's main architect was Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, followed by Nikolaus von Pacassi und Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg (garden design).

OK-so here's what I've been told...Castles are fortifications, palaces are residences. If that's not correct, please advise!

There was indeed a bathroom--Sissi had a WC off her bedroom suite.

Andi , quite correct .

There was indeed a bathroom--Sissi had a WC off her bedroom suite.

Although the first water-flushed toilets had been installed around 1860 in Schönbrunn Palace, Sisi's husband, emperor Franz Joseph I., refused all his life to use such modern "gadgets". He used a commode until his very end at 1916.

I have been to Schönbrunn on 2 occasions (1960, 2011), but have never been inside. I find touring palaces to be rather tedious - here's the bed he slept in, here's a beautiful chest of drawers, etc. Some like this, but not me. The grounds, on the other hand, are quite nice, and very pleasant to tour. You can climb to the Gloriette, sit on a bench, have your lunch/snack, it's quite pleasant. There are "follies" there as well, fountains. Quite special.

Schönbrunn is a Schloss, certainly not a castle, otherwise "Burg" would have been used. The proper name is Schloß Schönbrunn.