Hermesvilla

Hermesvilla is a mansion in Vienna’s Lainzer Tiergarten, a historic hunting grounds for the Habsburg nobles.Emperor Franz Joseph I gave it to his wife Empress Elisabeth (nicknamed “Sisi”) as the “castle of dreams.” The villa’s name alludes to a statue of Hermes made of white marble that is positioned in the villa’s garden. The Hermesvilla is now known for its art and natural surroundings, and the Vienna Museum uses it for special exhibitions on cultural history.

Interior

Murals by Hans Makart, Gustav Klimt, and Victor Tilgner are included into the interior design.The Empress’s private rooms are on the first level. Every day, the body-conscious, probably anorexic “Empress Sisi” worked out in the “Turnzimmer” (gymnasium). The room previously had a balancing beam, chin-up bar for pull-ups, and rings. It also has Pompeian-style paintings depicting various sports by August Eisenmenger, Hugo Charlemont, and Adolf Falkensteiner.

The Empress’ bedroom is located behind the Empress’ dressing room. In contrast to other rooms, various historic artefacts have been saved here, including a massive baroque “state bed” from Maria Theresa’s reign that previously stood in the imperial chamber of the postal station at Strengberg near Amstetten in Lower Austria. Hans Makart created the paintings in the bedroom, which are based on elements from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”A spiral staircase goes from the bedroom to the ground floor and the yard. The restored artwork “The Spring” by Franz Matsch, Gustav Klimt, and Georg Klimt hangs in the salon.

The sculpture “Elisabeth” by Ulrike Truger stands in front of the palace. The artist employed the fundamental concept of “duty – escape – freedom” (zwang – flucht – freiheit) in this statue, which was commissioned in 1998, placed in the Lainzer Tiergarten in 2001, and transferred to the Hermesvilla in 2006, to depict the Empress’ inner thoughts. It is built of Carrara marble, is 2.5 metres (8.2 feet) tall, and weighs 6.5 tonnes. Truger wants the piece to challenge the idealized “Sisi” reputation. The statue depicts the Empress differently from each side, representing distinct facets of her personality as she chafed under the constraints of court life: One side, “duty/obligation” (zwang), describes her expected role’s duties and obligations. The topic “escape” (flucht) is conveyed next, and lastly “freedom” (freiheit) is expressed with a picture that contains wings.As a result, Truger’s depiction of the Empress investigates the tension between structure and freedom.

History

Murals by Hans Makart, Gustav Klimt, and Victor Tilgner are included into the interior design.The Empress’s private rooms are on the first level. Every day, the body-conscious, probably anorexic “Empress Sisi” worked out in the “Turnzimmer” (gymnasium). The room previously had a balancing beam, chin-up bar for pull-ups, and rings. It also has Pompeian-style paintings depicting various sports by August Eisenmenger, Hugo Charlemont, and Adolf Falkensteiner.

The Empress’ bedroom is located behind the Empress’ dressing room. In contrast to other rooms, various historic artefacts have been saved here, including a massive baroque “state bed” from Maria Theresa’s reign that previously stood in the imperial chamber of the postal station at Strengberg near Amstetten in Lower Austria. Hans Makart created the paintings in the bedroom, which are based on elements from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”A spiral staircase goes from the bedroom to the ground floor and the yard. The restored artwork “The Spring” by Franz Matsch, Gustav Klimt, and Georg Klimt hangs in the salon.

The sculpture “Elisabeth” by Ulrike Truger stands in front of the palace. The artist employed the fundamental concept of “duty – escape – freedom” (zwang – flucht – freiheit) in this statue, which was commissioned in 1998, placed in the Lainzer Tiergarten in 2001, and transferred to the Hermesvilla in 2006, to depict the Empress’ inner thoughts. It is built of Carrara marble, is 2.5 metres (8.2 feet) tall, and weighs 6.5 tonnes. Truger wants the piece to challenge the idealized “Sisi” reputation. The statue depicts the Empress differently from each side, representing distinct facets of her personality as she chafed under the constraints of court life: One side, “duty/obligation” (zwang), describes her expected role’s duties and obligations. The topic “escape” (flucht) is conveyed next, and lastly “freedom” (freiheit) is expressed with a picture that contains wings.As a result, Truger’s depiction of the Empress investigates the tension between structure and freedom.

Vienna, Austria