Another important baroque palace is located in the immediate vicinity of the Belvedere. Already at the beginning of the history of this palace located at today’s Rennweg 2, one finds parallels to the famous neighboring building. Like the famous Eugen von Savoyen, another high-ranking military man was looking for a suitable location for erecting a “pleasure building with garden” at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century. It was Heinrich Franz Graf Mansfeld, later Prince of Fonti. He turned his special attention to the rising terrain on the other side of the right Wien river between Rennweg and Heugasse. It was probably a strange coincidence that brought these two men, described as antagonists in military questions — Mansfeld was a declared opponent of Prince Eugene — together on another field in the vicinity. In any case, in 1697 Mansfeld bought four quarters of the vineyards on the so-called “lampelbrunn” — the old field name of this area — from the Viennese Jesuit College. Mansfeld-Fonti was able to win over the young Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt as the architect for his planned construction of a palace with a garden. According to the wishes of his client, Hildebrandt was to start building a garden palace at the beginning of the Rennweg with the front against the former glacis and a view of the city centre. The palace and garden were designed to overshadow the palace and garden of Prince Eugene. The shell of the palace was already completed after seven years of construction in 1704. However, Mansfeld-Fonti was not to live to see the final completion of his building. He died in 1715 at the age of 74. By the time he died, the prince had spent 200,000 guilders on the building. After his death, ownership passed to other hands; The daughters of the deceased field marshal sold the palace, which was still unfinished inside, including the garden complex, according to the purchase contract of June 1716 for 50,000 guilders and 1,000 ducats (about 4,000 guilders) on loan to Prince Johann Franz von Schwarzenberg, who paid the required amount in cash . With the change of ownership comes a change in construction management. Schwarzenberg had the unfinished building continued by Johann Fischer von Erlach (1720–1723), after his death it was completed by Fischer’s son Joseph Emanuel von Erlach in 1723–1728. In this great main work of Lukas von Hildebrandt’s statements, the contrast in the architectural concept to Fischer von Erlach is clearly evident. The oval of the central building dominates the overall picture. The dominant central axis is just as remarkable for the baroque as the energetic lateral conclusion, which — in the specific case of the Schwarzenberg Palace — is given by the two pavilions. Inside, the oval corresponds to the large domed hall. The very elegant-looking loggia, to which a ramp leads up on both sides, is a highlight of the building with its arched tension and fine proportions. The central wing behind the entrance hall is set back slightly compared to the two side wings with a large pilaster order. The symmetrically protruding outbuildings form a court of honor and a stronger concrete facade. Hildebrandt created a mighty attic above the side wing, and a protruding ring of walls with oval windows and a dome with screens above the central part. A lively accentuation of the individual structures was achieved by the forward and backward stepping of the facades. The garden side is also framed by wings. The orangery and the riding school used to be housed here. The middle section also swings out in a semicircle, a tambourine-like elevation above the ballroom can be seen, as on the courtyard side. Particular attention was paid to the interior design of the Schwarzenbergpalais. Unfortunately, in this case, as in many other cases, much was destroyed during the Second World War, including the works of the Baroque painter Daniel Gran, who was primarily responsible for the artistic interior decoration. In the artistically valuable ceiling fresco he depicted Apollo, surrounded by virtues, sciences and arts, triumphing over stupidity and malice. Andreas Altmonte drew up the design for the riding school and the orangery. He was imperial court engineer, cabinet draftsman and etcher. Andreas Altomonte worked for the princely Schwarzenberg family in Krumau and in Vienna, and from 1763 he worked as a court theater draftsman in Vienna. The garden of Palais Schwarzenberg runs parallel to the Belvedere Garden (but is not open to the public). This, often referred to as Schwarzenberg Park, runs behind the palace as a long, narrow strip. It was laid out in 1697 by Jean Trehet as a baroque garden, but was later converted into an English garden. The full plastic groups set up in the park — they represent goddesses and nymphs — come from Lorenzo Mattielli. This Vicenza-born artist came to Vienna around 1712, and several years later he was appointed court inspector of ancient and modern statues in Dresden. In Vienna, Mattielli created four more of the colossal groups “Labours of Hercules” in the courtyard, the Fall of the Angels in the Michaelerkirche, the two high statues in front of the Karlskirche and the gable group and trophies at the Am Hof ​​fire brigade headquarters, to name just the most important ones. The entire garden of the Schwarzenberg Palace rises backwards in three terraces, thus overcoming the height difference between the city terrace and the arsenal terrace. The layout of the lower part of the park in particular is very reminiscent of the baroque garden type. The separation between the first and second terrace is formed by a wall decorated with reliefs, which ends with a stone railing by Andreas Steinpöckh. The original feeding of the ponds was a minor technical sensation. This was done with the help of a “fire machine”, one of the first steam engines in Austria, which was set up by Josef Emanuel Fischer von Erlach in 1723. This machine was in operation until the second half of the 18th century. The Palais Schwarzenberg did not have such an eventful history as its famous neighboring building, the Belvedere, but there is an event that is significant for both buildings: On October 6, the year of the revolution 1848, the Viennese garrison, who were withdrawing from Vienna, gathered under their commander, Count Maximilian Auerspergini Schwarzenberg Garden and in the neighboring Belvedere Garden and left this location a few days later to unite with the troops of Banus Jellacic. The commander of the newly created Vienna Mobile Guard, Bern, then moved into his camp in the Belvedere, while the new commander of the National Guard, Messenhauser, set up his headquarters in the Palais Schwarzenberg. Once again the garden of the palace became the scene of the revolution this year. Windisch-Graetz had the inner city bombarded with guns from the top of the Palais Schwarzenberg. Unfortunately, in 1945 the Palais Schwarzenberg fared similarly to the Belvedere. On February 21, bomb hits caused severe damage, and not only a large part of the right wing, but also the heart of the building, the domed hall with the vestibule, was destroyed. Above all, it is thanks to the generosity of the owners that this masterpiece of architecture was finally saved. The reconstruction turned out to be extremely difficult and presented the monument conservators with major problems. The right wing was restored relatively easily and quickly. Initially only safety work was carried out in the dome room, primarily to save the dome on the courtyard side which was threatened with collapse. The palace remained in an unfinished state until 1954, since the restoration of the central part, i.e. the dome room with the vestibule, entailed much greater difficulties. The dome had collapsed completely and the Grans fresco was irretrievably lost. It was finally agreed to rebuild the dome with a decoration in gilded stucco. Certainly this represented the best solution for the upper end of the magnificent room. It was Michael Engelhart, mentioned elsewhere, who provided the plans for the dome renewal. The restoration work was almost complete at the beginning of the 1960s, and today the Palais Schwarzenberg presents itself as a building that no longer shows the enormous damage it has suffered. Although inestimable values ​​were lost in the war, this important baroque building in the city could be preserved through the painstaking restoration.