Burggarten and Volksgarten Carry the Hofburg Beyond Its Palace Walls
Two gardens on either side of the Hofburg tell a quieter part of the palace's history. The Burggarten, between the Neue Burg and the Albertina, began as an imperial private garden. The Volksgarten, near Heldenplatz and the Burgtheater, opened to the public in 1823. Both occupy ground reshaped after Vienna's old fortifications were damaged in the Napoleonic Wars.
They make a useful pause between museums, but they are also worth looking at in their own right. A white temple stands among the Volksgarten's roses. Across the palace complex, the Burggarten has a glass Palm House, winding paths and a Mozart monument. Their present calm took a long time to acquire.
From fortifications to gardens
In 1809 French troops destroyed part of the bastions near the palace. Once the debris had been cleared and the ground levelled, new spaces could be laid out around the Hofburg. The changes helped turn the former defensive edge of the city into a setting for gardens and open squares.
The Burggarten was redesigned for Emperor Franz I between 1817 and 1819, then changed and expanded during the following decades. Its shape did not stay fixed. Construction of the Neue Burg reduced the garden's size, and the area facing the new palace wing was redesigned before the garden opened to the public in 1919.
The Volksgarten followed a different path. It was laid out as a public garden in the early nineteenth century. Later extensions brought it toward the Ringstrasse. Its rose garden, so strongly associated with the park today, developed later; the roses were planted in their present role in the middle of the twentieth century.
Mozart and the Palm House
Walk into the Burggarten and the curve of the Neue Burg gives the garden a palace backdrop. The lawns and paths have a more informal feel than the grand stone façades around them. The Mozart monument arrived here in 1953, long after the composer's lifetime, and has become one of the garden's most familiar landmarks.
The Palm House dates from 1902 to 1906. Its glass and metal structure is a reminder that the gardens were working spaces for plants as well as places to stroll. Today the building houses a butterfly house and a restaurant, each with its own visitor arrangements. The terrace beside it provides another angle on the garden and the surrounding buildings.
There is a less visible layer beneath the terrace: an underground archive of the Austrian National Library was built there between 1988 and 1992. It is an example of the way the palace complex continues to adapt while its public spaces retain their historic character.
Roses and the Theseus Temple
The Volksgarten is more formal in places, especially around the rose beds on the Ringstrasse side. Its paths also lead to the monument to Empress Elisabeth, or Sisi, set in a quieter garden enclosure near the Burgtheater. The marble figure was made by Hans Bitterlich; architect Friedrich Ohmann designed the surrounding setting, completed in 1907.
The white Theseus Temple is a small classical building designed by Pietro Nobile and completed in 1823. Its model was the ancient Temple of Hephaestus in Athens. It originally housed a marble sculpture group by Antonio Canova, later moved to the Kunsthistorisches Museum. The temple has since been used for art displays, though access to the interior depends on the exhibition schedule.
The gardens work well as separate stops on a walk around the Hofburg. The Volksgarten sits beside Heldenplatz; the Burggarten is on the Neue Burg side toward the Albertina. Leave a little time for both, especially in rose season. Opening hours change with the season, so check the Austrian Federal Gardens before setting out rather than assuming the gates stay open until dark.