Palais Auersperg

Palais Auersperg, formerly known as Palais Rosenkavalier, is a Baroque palace located on Auerspergstraße 1 in Vienna’s Josefstadt or eighth district.

Between 1706 and 1710, the Palais Auersperg was erected on the land of the previous Rottenhof according to the plans of two well-known architects, Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, for Hieronymus Capece de Rofrano, to whom the former name Rosenkavalier belongs. Johann Christian Neupauer renovated the palace’s center part between 1720 and 1723.

Prince Joseph of Saxe-Hildburghausen began using the palace as his winter retreat in 1749. He recruited Giuseppe Bonno as the palace’s musical conductor. Weekly music lessons were offered throughout the winter months between 1754 and 1761. He rented the palace in 1759 and appointed Christoph Willibald Gluck as the main conductor of the performances staged there.

In 1777, Prince Johann Adam of Auersperg, a friend and confidant of Emperor Francis I and Maria Theresa, purchased the mansion, which was still known as Palais Rofrano at the time. The palace was renamed Palais Auersperg in 1786, and it hosted a number of significant and well-known musical performances, including Idomeneo by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (who also conducted) and Sieben Worte des Erlösers am Kreuze by Joseph Haydn.

Because Johann Adam of Auersperg’s second marriage produced no offspring and his previous marriage’s children had died, he adopted his nephew Carl Auersperg (1750-1822). In 1795, Carl received his inheritance. Carl and Josepha’s marriage was also childless, so in 1812, they adopted Prince Vinzens Auersperg, who accepted his inheritance in 1817. Gustav, Prince of Vasa, remained at the Palais Auersperg with the Swedish Royal Family from 1827 and 1837 while his inheritance was being challenged in Sweden.

On the directions of Vinzens Auersperg, a ballroom structure was constructed along the Lerchenfelderstrasse in 1864. After his death in 1872, his wife Wilhelmine commissioned additional improvements to the ballroom building so that the Geometric Institute might use it. Franz Joseph Emanuel (1856-1938), son of Wilhelmine Auersperg, and his wife Wilhelmine Kinsky purchased the Palais Auersperg in 1878. Wilhelmine Kinsky conducted several charity events to benefit the Vereinigung zur Errettung verwahrloster Kinder. In the Rosenkavaliersaal, pieces of drama and music were presented, with some aristocratic involvement.

Franz Joseph Auersperg restored the ballroom structure to its original function in 1901. During World War II, the ballroom structure was entirely demolished and the ruins were removed. The Palais Auersperg was briefly rented to the Bundesdenkmalamt and a film studio between 1923 and 1935.

Ferdinand Auersperg (1887-1942) acquired the Palais in 1940, and his sister Christiane Croy accepted her inheritance in 1942. During WWII, she and her family resided in the top rooms of the Palais. During the Second World War, they also sheltered members of the resistance there, as commemorated by a marker outside the Palais’s entrance. The Provisorische österreichische Nationalkomitee, often known as O5, was founded at the Palais in 1944. The Alliierte Kommandantur, the Allied Control Council’s police force, seized the Palais in 1945 and used it as their headquarters.

Arabia Kaffee founder Konsul Alfred Weiss purchased the Palais in 1953. It was expanded between 1953 and 1954 by architect Oswald Haerdtl, who built the orangery, the winter garden, and additional practical rooms. Alfred Weiss established a spacious café for 600 visitors in the Palais, complete with a deck. His heirs sold the Palais to a corporation called General Partners A.G. after his death.

The Palais was sold again in early 2006 to an elderly European family. The State Apartments have remained unchanged and are currently utilized for musical purposes. The majority of the upper level has been converted into office space. The Palais will be renovated in the next years, and a modest museum will be established. The Palais is currently utilized for various types of balls and musical events; it has eleven rooms and can seat up to 1000 guests.