The Schönbrunn Palace, also known as the Viennese Versailles, is one of the most important historical and cultural buildings in Austria. Since the 19th century it has been one of the main tourist attractions in the city of Vienna and has been featured in postcards, documentaries and various films. Inside the church are important paintings by the painter Giambattista Pittoni showing the education of Mary and St. John of Nepomuk, during his time he was the most sought-after painter by all the European royal courts. The palace, together with its gardens, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

In 1559 Emperor Maximilian II had a small hunting palace built here, which was completely destroyed in the second siege of Vienna. Emperor Leopold I commissioned Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach to build a palace for his son Joseph. The architect presented a plan whose realisation was to begin in 1696 and to be completed between 1699 and 1701,2 although there is no consensus on this point. All that remains of this first construction is the Palace Chapel and the Blue Staircase with a fresco by Sebastiano Ricci.

Charles VI showed no particular interest in Schoenbrunn, but it was his daughter Maria Theresa who made the palace the summer residence of the Habsburgs, a status it retained until the end of the monarchy in 1918. During Maria Theresa's reign, the palace underwent a major extension under the direction of Nikolaus von Pacassi, who had already worked for the imperial family at the Hofburg. Most of the interior decoration dates from this period and is one of the few existing examples of the Austrian Rococo style.

Around 1765 Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg took over the management of the palace. His most significant work is the Gloriette, which optically completes the large palace park.

Between 1817 and 1819 Johann Aman carried out a unification and simplification of the façade, clearly following the dictates of classicism. The characteristic yellow colour of the façade also dates from this period, which until the 20th century was one of the "trademarks" of the Habsburg monarchy, as all the official buildings were painted in the same colour.