Walking through this palace felt like walking through the pages of a history book because, as we discovered, so many important events took place in those very rooms. Mozart sat on a young Marie Antoinette's lap and had his famous piano battle with Salieri (familiar to anyone who has seen the movie Amadeus), Napoleon Bonaparte's son lived and died there, and the allies once bombed the palace during WWI, destroying a fresco that was, ironically, a commentary on war itself. The palace is not just a place of importance to Austria but a living backdrop for history itself.
I cannot fathom what it must have been like to actually live in this magnificent building, least of all as a summer home. We were told that each of the Hapsburgs (Schönbrunn's residents) had five whole rooms to themselves. This is incredible to imagine when you consider that Empress Maria Theresa had 10 children that survived to adulthood. Thats 50 rooms used to house just one generation! It's crazy to imagine a family living with so much decadence yet having such little control over other parts of their lives. We talked a lot about how virtually non of these royal residents were aloud to marry for love. They instead had marriages arranged for political gains, some happy and some not. Even though living in a palace would be incredible, I can't imagine having little control over such important areas of your life because each of your choices has a political consequence. It may sound crazy, but I don't envy the life's of the Hapsburgs.
See you soon,
Megan Cummings
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