Palais Kaunitz-Wittgenstein

The Palais Kaunitz-Wittgenstein (at Münchendorferstraße 2) is a Baroque palace built in 1703 in Laxenburg, Lower Austria. Initially used as a summer residence, the palace also served as a museum, an educational institute, and a community center. Since 2010 the palace is the headquarters of the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA).

The Palais Kaunitz in 2011

History

In 1695, Leopold Philip Montecuccoli purchased an undeveloped plot of land in Laxenburg and began the construction of a house.[1] The precise whereabouts of this construction remain obscure.[2] After his death in 1698, his widow sold the estate to Dominik Andreas I. von Kaunitz, who commissioned the palace, which was built in the years 1698–1703.[3] Kaunitz additionally purchased neighbouring plots of land and connected them with his estate to enlarge the palace and the gardens.[2] Domenico Martinelli, who also planned Slavkov Castle for Kaunitz, is the likely architect of the palace. His participation, however, has not been proven.[4] The construction took place under the auspices of Andrea Simone Carove, while Pietro Bombelli served as a stonemason.[4]

After Kaunitz' death, the palace was sold in 1722 by his son Maximilian Ulrich Kaunitz-Rietberg to Leopold Schlick, due to financial reasons.[2] The Palais Kaunitz was, in the aftermath, owned in fast succession by members of the families Schlick, Lobkowicz, Chotek, and subsequently served as a summer residence to the piemont ambassador at the imperial court in Vienna Luigi Canale. During the period of Canale's residence in the Palais, it was frequently visited by the librettist and poet Pietro Metastasio, who used to spend the summer there.[5] Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg, the grandson of the palace's first owner, bought the palace in 1775.[3] Wenzel Anton Kaunitz refurbished the palace and established the current neoclassical interior.[4] Kaunitz commissioned the frescoes in the stairwell and the banquet hall to the Austrian painter Joseph Pichler, who was also working at the Laxenburg castles[6]

After his death, Kaunitz' heirs sold the palace in 1803 to the Austrian foreign minister Franz de Paula Karl von Colloredo, who commissioned new refurbishments, including a bathhouse with paintings. Colloredo died in 1806 leading to the next change in ownership, as his widow sold the palace to Nikolaus II, Prince Esterházy in 1808. Nikolaus located his art collection in the palace and established it as a museum.[7]

In 1895,[8] after the death of Nikolaus III the palace was bought by members of the Wittgenstein family, who might have already rented the house in the years prior to their purchase. The palace remained in the possession of, inter alia, Klara Wittgenstein and her nephews Ludwig and Paul Wittgenstein,[9] serving since 1910 as the primary home to Klara. After Klara Wittgenstein's death, a nearby order of nuns acquired the building and started to run several educational institutes in the palace, before it was reassigned to serve as a community center. The Palais Kaunitz-Wittgenstein is currently in the possession of the Austrian state and rented by IACA for the symbolic price of €1 per year.[10]

References

1. Laxenburg, p. 91
2. Laxenburg, pp. 116/117
3. Marktgemeinde Laxenburg (ed.): "A Glance at Laxenburg", 2014. p. 82. (German Text)
4. "Laxenburg – Palais Kaunitz" (in German). burgen-austria.com. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
5. Laxenburg, pp. 149/150
6. Laxenburg, p. 605
7. Laxenburg, pp. 191/192
8. Laxenburg, p. 192
9. Laxenburg, p. 606
10. Gottsauner-Wolf, Moritz; Zotter, Christoph (31 January 2013). "Wo die Korruptionsjäger büffeln". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 21 August 2018.

Sources

• Springer, Elisabeth (2013). Formann, Barbara (ed.). Laxenburg : Juwel vor den Toren Wiens (in German). Verlag Bibliothek der Provinz. ISBN 9783990281932.