Impressions from Vienna – Schönbrunn Palace Garden & the oldest zoo of the World

Yesterday I went for a walk in the beautiful palace garden of the Schönbrunn palace. During my walk I took some photos for you.

I really love to show friends or SCA members round in Vienna. When we are done with visiting some of the museums and the other interesting locations in the inner city, there is normally no time left for places like the Schönbrunn palace. There are just too many interesting places in Vienna to be able to see them all during a short city-trip.

Therefore I thought it might be nice to take some pictures and to share them with you. This way you can visit this lovely place with me or at least get an impression of this lovely place.

A small selection of photos from my recent walk through the Schönbrunn palace garden:

I also visited the Schönbrunner Tiergarten. This rather famous zoo of Vienna is the oldest still existing zoo of the world. According to Wikipedia it “was founded as an imperial menagerie in 1752” – you can read more about it <here>.

And a small selection of photos from the Schönbrunner Tiergarten for you:

I have an annual ticket for the zoo, like so many other people who live in Vienna. As far as I remember, I visited this zoo for the very first time when I was a small child and I am very glad to see the great improvements for the animals which happened since my first visit. I can remember the wolves in their small “imperial” compounds and how sad and unhappy they looked when I saw them for the very first time – about 30 years ago. The wolves, for example, have now a great and huge outside compound. When you watch them from afar, they seem to be happy now, enjoying their free space. I think that the Schönbrunner Tiergarten is a great example of how old (imperial) architecture can be preserved but also adapted to meet the modern needs of modern keeping of animals. I think they did a great job, especially when you consider that the space for the zoo is very limited. There are streets and houses on one side and the palace garden of Schönbrunn on the other. Great work Schönbrunner Tiergarten, well done! 🙂

…and well, I admit it, there is also another more or less good reason why I like to take a walk through Schönbrunn. I know that my way takes me to a nice restaurant called Brandauer Schlossbräu at the other side of the garden – with a former Biedermeier ballroom inside and a great garden restaurant whenever the weather allows it. No, the really nice “Weißbier” and the good cooking is absolutely no further reason why it takes me there… 😉

I hope you enjoyed this walk through Schönbrunn with me.