The Imperial Villa stands on the opposite bank of the Ischl River in the large Austrian resort of Bad Ischl. It is located about 700 metres from the main railway station. This exquisite building has gone down in history as the summer residence of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph I and his wife, the famous Empress Elisabeth, known as Sisi.
Originally, it was a rather modest structure in the simple Biedermeier style, which was considered an offshoot of German Romanticism. It belonged to an ordinary Viennese notary until in 1853 it was bought by Archduchess Sophia, the Emperor's mother, who gave the future villa to her son as a wedding present. Then began extensive work on the reconstruction of the building.
The imperial villa is now in neoclassical style. In its shape it resembles the letter "E". Especially noteworthy is the main portal of the building, decorated with powerful columns and an exquisite tympanum on the pediment.
A luxurious park in the English style, the so-called "landscape park", was built on the territory of the villa. It is characterised by the absence of carefully calibrated symmetry, in other words, trees and shrubs in this kind of park are allowed to grow as in natural conditions. Marble fountains and a monument to Emperor Franz Joseph were also installed in the park.
The crowned couple themselves stayed here almost every summer. Even after the tragic murder of Sisi, the Emperor Dowager did not stop visiting Ischl until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Apart from the imperial family itself, other politicians, noblemen and artists often stayed here.
The imperial villa is now privately owned by Archduke Marcus, one of the last members of the Habsburg family. However, some of its rooms and luxurious gardens are open to the public.
