Hermesvilla

Vienna


Part of the Lainzer Tiergarten and surrounded by towering trees, the Hermesvilla was built by Karl von Hasenauer between 1882 and 1886 in late Romantic style. The palatial villa was a gift for Empress Elisabeth from Franz Joseph I, commissioned in the hope that she may be more inclined to stay in Vienna with a 'little' place of her own. Murals by Klimt and Makart grace the interior, including Makart's beautiful rendering of A Midsummer Night's Dream in Sisi's upstairs bedroom.

The fitness-obsessed empress's gym room has sporting motifs, if not her original exercise equipment, and her stables – she was also a keen equestrian – have been left almost as they were in her day.

Transportation

  • tram: 62 Hermesstrasse
  • bus: 55A Lainzer Tor

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