Wagenburg

The Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna (Kaiserliche Wagenburg Wien) is an important department of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, housed on the grounds of Schönbrunn Palace. It holds one of the most significant collections of ceremonial and everyday court vehicles in the world. The collection comprises more than five thousand objects, most of them dating from the Baroque era to the end of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The carriage collection originally served to transport the imperial court and its staff, before the fleet was partly dispersed after the monarchy collapsed. A historically valuable remnant was handed over to the museum and eventually brought together in the former Winter Riding School at Schönbrunn.

Today, visitors can marvel at around sixty vehicles in the exhibition halls, including state coaches, everyday carriages, sleighs, and automobiles. The collection ranges from lavish Baroque coaches and hunting vehicles to modern racing cars, spanning the history of Habsburg transportation all the way into the 21st century. In addition to the vehicles themselves, related equipment such as harnesses, saddles, and paintings is also on display. This variety offers an impressive glimpse into the mobility and the desire for display of the European nobility and the imperial house over several centuries.