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By:Anil Gupta

Vienna’s complex and imposing Imperial Palace, the Hofburg was the first residence and grew with the family empire from the 13th century until 1913, when the new wing was opened. The winter abode of the Hapsburg rulers until 1918; it is till now the home of the Spanish Riding School (with the famous Lipizzaner stallions), the Vienna Boys’ Choir, the Austrian president's office, 5,000 government workers, and several important museums.

The Imperial Apartments of the palace are lavish, Versailles-type “wish-I-were-God” royal rooms. One can stroll through the audience room, where citizens exercised their right to speak privately with the emperor. Franz Josef stood at a high table and met with commoners who came to show gratitude or make a request.

In his study, the walls between the rooms were wide enough to hide servants’ corridors. The emperor lived with a personal staff of 14. His bedroom features his notably Spartan iron bed and a portable washstand.

Franz Josef’s wife Elisabeth was mysterious, egotistical, and beautiful. Nicknamed “Sissy,” she was mostly silent, worked out frantically to maintain her Barbie Doll figure, and spent hours each day tending to her ankle-length hair.

At dinnertime, Franz Josef called his large family together in the dining room. The settings were just were silver. Gold was saved for formal state dinners. Next to each name card was a menu with the chef responsible for each dish. While the Hofburg had tableware for 4,000, feeding 3,000 was a typical day. The cellar was stocked with 60,000 bottles of wine. The kitchen was huge where 50 birds could be roasted on the hand-driven spits at once.

The Hofburg’s Treasury has the best jewels on the Continent. One can view the glitter of 21 rooms filled with scepters, swords, crowns, orbs, weighty robes, double-headed eagles, gowns, gem-studded bangles, and a six-and-a-half-foot-tall, 500-year-old unicorn horn which was thought to be incredibly powerful in the old days, giving its owner the grace of God.

Next door is the Imperial Chapel where the Vienna Boys’ Choir sings at Mass each Sunday. The Lipizzaner Museum, a must for horse lovers, is on the edge of the Hofburg grounds. The museum portrays the 400-year history of the renowned riding school. Take a gander at the stables through a museum window to see the white horses just standing there looking common. The Hofburg’s New Palace, the last grand addition to the complex from just before World War I, was built for Franz Ferdinand Hapsburg but never used. This “new” section houses three small but fine museums: an armory, historical musical instruments, and classical statuary from ancient Ephesus. The musical instruments are particularly entertaining. Graceful period music accompanies a wander through the neighboring halls of medieval weaponry — a killer collection of crossbows, swords, and armor.

The Hofburg was originally a medieval castle, but today only the castle chapel remembers of its medieval past. The Hofburg was extended to a magnificent residence when the Habsburg’s power increased.

The Hofburg was extended to a magnificent residence when the Habsburg’s power increased. That’s why one can find almost any architectural style, from gothic to art nouveau. Nowadays this enormous complex is home to National Library, Imperial Treasury, and houses a collection of musical instruments, another collection of weapons, a Museum of Ethnography and famous Spanish Riding School.Vienna’s Imperial castle also houses exotic butterflies in a marvelous art-deco glass house.

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Anil Gupta recommends that you visit www.bookings.be/city/at/vienna.html?aid=305255 for more information on Vienna hotels.