Join us for a visit to Sisi's favourite summer house that her husband built for her in order to keep her in town instead of her continuous travelling.
The Hermes Villa is located in the Lainz Game Reserve where Sisi's hubby Emperor Franz Joseph gave her a "Palace of Dreams" in order to keep her in Vienna more often - somebody loved to travel, huh? The emperor had a hunting forest close to Vienna and thought that a summer cottage in the middle of deer and boars will keep the city girl at home. We all know how it worked when Sisi got killed in Geneva in 1898...
Carl von Hasenauer, a well-known architect of Vienna’s Ringstrasse built the romantic little palace from 1882 to 1886. The palace was originally known as Waldruh, Forest Peace but was later named Hermes Villa in view of the statue of Hermes, which stands in the palace garden. The lavishly furnished small palace is an outstanding example of late-romantic villa construction. Some of the decorations were made by Gustav Klimt!
Elisabeth and her husband only lived a few days in the villa each year in late spring. The body conscious, possibly anorexic Sisi worked out every day in the "Turnzimmer" and you will still see her fencing outfit there. You will also see Sisi’s dressing room and behind it, her bedroom where the bed she actually used is still on show. It was Maria Theresa’s original bed from the imperial room of the postal station in Strengberg, Lower Austria! As a slightly newer thing to see, there is Ulrike Truger’s sculpture “Elisabeth” in front of the estate. The artist used Sisi’s themes "duty - escape - freedom“ (Zwang, Flucht, Freiheit) as a motive.
After WWII, the Soviets occupied Vienna from 1945 to 1955 and as one can expect, looted the Villa which eventually became run down and remained in poor condition for a long time. It was as late as in 1963 when the Disney fit Miracle of the White Stallions recreated interest in the building. This led to a private initiative that eventually resulting in the Austrian authorities to renovating the Villa from 1968 until 1974.
The villa is located in the middle of the Lainzer Tiergarten, a nature reserve and this is why you cannot drive or cycle to the villa. As it is a bit out of town, you need to take bus 56 from the Hiezing U-Bahn to its end stop and walk for about 1 km to get there. Take this as a lovely summer outing - you can have lunch in the lovely Hermes Café of the palace while you read all the books on Sisi that you buy in the museum shop. The Café serves Austrian specialties and game. You might wish to try their karamellisierte Krautfleckerl, a fancy veggie dish with Austrian pasta in a cabbage sauce - may sound yacky but it is delicious!
The villa is not accessible with a wheelchair or with a pram. There is a ramp to the entry level but there is no lift to the exhibition areas on the first floor. There are good loos in the first floor and at the café.
Sisi really dominates the museum scene in Vienna - check our previous entries about her residencies at Hofburg and Schönbrunn.
Hermes Villa
Launder Tiergarte, 1130 Wien
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