A Comparison of Many Great Palaces

Visiting the royal palaces has been one of my favorite parts of this trip. Each palace was unique and its own character; I really enjoyed learning the history behind each location. In Vienna the Habsburg family had two palaces: The Schoenbrunn palace and the Hofburg palace. The Schoenbrunn was the family's summer palace; after our tour and lecture I can conclude that Schoenbrunn was where the family's parties were held. The other palace, the Hofburg, was clearly more business oriented and much less grand. As we toured both palaces I thought that the most interesting difference was the way that Empress Sisi lived in both homes. Schoenbrunn was beautiful, but it was a cage for Sisi. She had little to no privacy; the few rooms that she did have were very small and were directly connected to other rooms of the building. I believe that the gardens at this palace were made according to Sisi's desires; the way that the hedges and different bushes were arranged allowed for privacy outside of the palace. I feel like Sisi most likely enjoyed time at the Hofburg more than the Shoenbrunn; at the Hofburg Sisi's apartments were much larger and she had several more rooms to herself which allowed for more privacy. The most notable difference in privacy was the doorbell that Franz had to ring in order to see his wife. After ringing the bell, one of Sisi's maids would answer the door and either allow Franz in or dismiss him according to what Sisi desired at the time. After viewing the two palaces owned by the Habsburgs we toured we saw the palace at the Kew gardens owned by King George III and Queen Charlotte. The palace at the Kew gardens was not what I expected at all; rather than a grand palace it seemed more like a southern-styled mansion than a palace. After our tour I had the feeling that the Kew Palace was fairly comfortable home for the family. I did however read that the daughters of George and Charlotte felt like they were trapped; they felt over protected and even described the family home as "a nunnery". Even though all of the palaces were different they all held sadness; Schoenbrunn was Sisi's cage, Hofburg was repressive as Sisi had to meet the social requirements and conduct herself for the courts. Like both of the Habsburgs' palaces, the Kew palace held sadness as well; it was there that George was treated for his madness. I really enjoyed touring all of the palaces and learning about their histories.