Baroque Gardens

At the time of their creation Baroque gardens were reflections of an ideal world and represented in their strictly geometrical forms the order of the cosmos willed by god. The essence of Baroque gardens was to overcome the conditions of nature and make it submissive. Besides sculptures and vases, purely playful elements were the ponds and pools with their trick fountains.

In Baroque landscape gardening, water either created mirror-like surfaces that reflected the facades of the palace or cascaded into the depths in the form of a waterfall, or splashed in fountains or trickles down water steps. The landscape gardening artists of the Baroque period enjoyed to play and experiment with water.

Together with the palaces the gardens also represented places of courtly ceremonials, places of great festivities, wanton and exuberant spectacles and the exhibition of the unusual. For this, too, water was used – examples of which are the hydraulically operated vending machines in Hellbrunn.

Below you will find a selection of the nicest and most interesting Baroque gardens in Austria:

Schloss Hof (Lower Austria)
Faithfully restored, baroque palace gardens with wonderful broderie-style flower beds and magnificent sculpture, Orangery with a romantic garden.
www.schlosshof.at

Park of Schloss Hellbrunn (Salzburg)
World-famous for its water tricks, water games and water jets hidden away behind bushes and trees; mysterious grottos, water-operated puppets.
www.hellbrunn.at

Mirabell Garden (Salzburg)
The Mirabell Garden was built in 1690 according to plans by J. B. Fischer von Erlach and make for a great day out for its wealth of colorful flowers, the bizarre Dwarf Garden and the maze with its “hedge theater”.
Mirabellgarten

Belvedere Garden (Vienna)
The two building complexes of Schloss Belvedere are connected via a garden. The whole ensemble ranks among one of the world’s most beautiful and best preserved historic palace and parklands.
www.belvedere.at

Schönbrunn Palace Park (Vienna)
Splendid and expansive park with numerous gardens, splendid buildings, fountains and statues, the name-giving “Schöner Brunnen” (Beautiful Fountain), the classicist Gloriette monument and the Palm House, Europe’s largest greenhouse.
www.schoenbrunn.at