Kaiserappartements

Lonely Planet review

The Kaiserappartements (Imperial Apartments) were once the official living quarters of Franz Josef I and Empress Elisabeth (or Sisi as she was affectionately named). The rooms are as opulent as you might expect, with fine furniture, hanging tapestries and bulbous crystal chandeliers.

The first six rooms, known as the Sisi Museum, are devoted to Austria's most beloved empress. There's an impressive reconstruction of her luxurious coach but it's the details that steal the show: a reconstruction of the dress she wore on the eve of her wedding, her sunshade, fans and gloves. There's even a replica of her personal fitness room complete with rings and bars, testament to her obsession with keeping slim. Many of the empress's famous portraits are on display, as is her death mask, made after her assassination in Geneva in 1898.

The Kaiser's rooms include a dining room with a table for 20 elegantly set, and the Audienzzimmer contains the high desk Franz Josef used to receive petitions, a ritual he relinquished only on his deathbed.

The silver and porcelain in the adjoining Hoftafel und Tafelkammer (Court Tableware and Silver Depot) would certainly impress the in-laws: the largest silver service here can serve 140 dinner guests.