Schweizertor - Vienna, Austria
Posted by: 
BakaGaijin
N 48° 12.419 E 016° 21.939
33U E 601462 N 5340207
The Swiss Gate in the Hofburg palace is the most colourful surviving remnant of Renaissance Vienna.
Waymark Code: WM7V4K
Location: Wien, Austria
Date Posted: 12/05/2009
Views: 68
One of the unusual aspects of Vienna is its lack of Renaissance buildings. The two main reasons are that the Turks besieged Vienna periodically from 1529 until the 1680s, forcing architects and planners to use most of their resources to strengthen the city's fortifications and that during the 16th century some emperors preferred to live in Prague thus depriving Vienna of the advantage of being the residence of the imperial court.
Among the few remaining Renaissance pieces is the famous red-black Schweizertor (Swiss Gate) which leads to the Schweizerhof, the oldest part of the imperial palace, originally a stronghold with four towers. It displays the many titles of Emperor Ferdinand I and the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece.