Traditional Culture

Hellbrunn Palace: Salzburg’s First Luxury Chalet

In this installment of ‘Larger Than Life: Architecture Through the Ages,’ we visit an early baroque villa that served as a summer day palace.
Hellbrunn Palace: Salzburg’s First Luxury Chalet
The posterior view of Hellbrunn Palace features a star pond that is surrounded by a semicircular fountain grotto, known as the Altemps Fountain. It feeds the entire fountain complex. The palace’s simple exterior hides exquisitely decorated ballrooms and halls. Schloss Hellbrunn
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Hellbrunn Palace sits on a hilly perch about five miles outside Salzburg, Austria. Hellbrunn, which means “clear water” in German, is named for the several natural springs that feed the 148-acre landscape.

After Markus Sittikus (1574–1619) was elected Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg in 1612, he converted a hunting lodge in Hellbrunn into a baroque summer retreat. Inspired by Italian suburban villas, which were intended for leisure and relaxation, he hired Italian architect Santino Solari to build his pleasure palace. Construction began in June 1613.

Jennifer Schneider
Jennifer Schneider
Author
Jennifer Schneider is a classically trained artist who specializes in 19th century art and architecture. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Studio Arts and studied Imaginative Realism full-time at Georgetown Atelier in Seattle. She is a freelance photographer and an arts editor for The Epoch Times and American Essence (AE) magazine.