COACHING THE CONGRESS ALONG
RENT-A-CARRIAGES, PLEASURE CRUISES AND LUXURY OUTFITS
AT THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 1814/1815
SEPTEMBER 18, 2014
- NOVEMBER 1, 2015
For eight months two centuries ago Vienna was the center of the world:
monarchs, policy makers, and lobbyists from all over Europe gathered at the
Congress of Vienna (September 18, 1814 – June 9, 1815) to redraw the map
of Europe after the defeat of Napoleon. They were accompanied by huge
retinues, as well as thousands of adventurers and onlookers, who all needed
to be housed, fed, entertained and moved about in Vienna – making this
conference of princes the precursor of contemporary conference tourism.
Backstage this required enormous logistics in a city occupied twice and
ravaged by decades of war. The exhibition at the Imperial Carriage Museum
in Schönbrunn documents how brilliantly Vienna rose to the challenge:
Everyone knows that the Congress danced – but much more important for
contemporaries was that it also “drove”: hundreds of sumptuous carriages
had to be built almost over night to provide suitable transport for these
elegant visitors, and to entertain them with much admired sleigh rides and
outings in fashionable barouches. Noble guests and members of their
retinues could rent these coaches at any time of the day or night simply by
ordering them using specially printed forms. For the first time all carriages
were given a uniform appearance as part of efforts to improve the
administration of this carriage rental service. Thus the imperial court
invented the “corporate identity” of a princely fleet of carriages, an idea
soon copied all over Europe.
Some of these elaborate carriages have survived in the collection of the
Imperial Carriage Museum, where - for the first time in two centuries - they
now shine in new splendour. In addition, magnificent court uniforms
specially designed for the Congress of Vienna, and the opulent robes of the
different knightly orders, which the monarchs presented to each other as
symbols of their friendship, will be on show.
The Imperial Carriage Museum is Vienna’s only museum with rich holdings
of magnificent three-dimensional objects from this period, and the
exhibition offers both an unusual view of the Congress of Vienna and an
opulent tableau that brings to life the splendour of this historical event held
in Vienna two centuries ago.
PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS
These images may be used free of charge when writing about the
exhibition; to download them go to press.khm.at.
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Key visual:
Landau of the Imperial Court
Vienna, c. 1814
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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Landau of the Imperial Court
Vienna, c. 1814
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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Landau of the Imperial Court
Detail
Vienna, c. 1814
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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Landau of the Imperial Court
Detail
Vienna, c. 1814
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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Landau of the Imperial Court
Detail
Vienna, c. 1814
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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Landau of the Imperial Court
Detail
Vienna, c. 1814
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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Berline of the Imperial Court
Vienna, c. 1814
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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Berline of the Imperial Court
Vienna, c. 1814
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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Berline of the Imperial Court
Detail: Door handles with crowns and double-headed eagles
Vienna, c. 1814
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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„Pirutsche“ (Barouche) of Emperor Francis I
Vienna, c. 1814
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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„Pirutsche“ (Barouche) of Emperor Francis I
Vienna, c. 1814
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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„Pirutsche“ (Barouche) of Emperor Francis I
Vienna, c. 1814
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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„Pirutsche“ (Barouche) of Emperor Francis I
Detail
Vienna, c. 1814
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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„Pirutsche“ (Barouche) of Emperor Francis I
Detail
Vienna, c. 1814
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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„Pirutsche“ (Barouche) of Emperor Francis I
Detail
Vienna, c. 1814
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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Phaeton-Sleigh of Prince Windisch-Graetz
Vienna, 1814 – 1815
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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Phaeton-Sleigh of Prince Windisch-Graetz
Detail
Vienna, 1814 – 1815
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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Phaeton-Sleigh of Prince Windisch-Graetz
Detail
Vienna, 1814 – 1815
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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Phaeton-Sleigh of Prince Windisch-Graetz
Vienna, 1814 – 1815
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
Elaborate Imperial Sleigh Harness
Vienna,1814 – 1815
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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Elaborate Imperial Sleigh Harness
Vienna, 1814 – 1815
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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Harness for the Imperial Sleigh
Vienna, 1814 – 1815
Used in the sleigh ride on Jan. 22nd, 1815
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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Harness for the Imperial Sleigh
Detail
Vienna, 1814 – 1815
Used in the sleigh ride on Jan. 22nd, 1815
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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Harness for the Imperial Sleigh
Coloured Etching
"Journal des Luxus und der Moden", April 1815
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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Cover for the Imperial Sleigh
Vienna, 1814 – 1815
Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna
© KHM
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Vestments of a Knight of the French Royal Order of the Holy Spirit
France, 1815
Worn by Emperor Francis I
Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Monturdepot
© KHM
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Doublet and bloomers of a Knight of the French Royal Order of the
Holy Spirit
France, 1815
Worn by Emperor Francis I
Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Monturdepot
© KHM
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Doublet and bloomers of a Knight of the French Royal Order of the
Holy Spirit
France, 1815
Worn by Emperor Francis I
Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Monturdepot
© KHM
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Uniform of an Officer of the Royal Hungarian Life Guards
Vienna, c. 1905/10
Mounted Life Guards in these uniforms accompanied the sleigh ride
on January 22nd, 1815
Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Monturdepot
© KHM
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Uniform of an Officer of the Royal Hungarian Life Guards
Detail
Vienna, c. 1905/10
Mounted Life Guards in these uniforms accompanied the sleigh ride
on January 22nd, 1815
Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Monturdepot
© KHM
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State Uniform of a Member of the Gentry of Lower Austria
Introduced 1807
Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Monturdepot
© KHM
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State Uniform of a Member of the Gentry of Lower Austria
Detail
Introduced 1807
Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Monturdepot
© KHM
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State Robe from c. 1815
Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Monturdepot
© KHM
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State Robe from c. 1815
Detail
Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Monturdepot
© KHM
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State Uniform of a Grand Officer of the Court
Introduced 1814
C.M. Frank (Vienna), 1909
Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Monturdepot
© KHM
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State Uniform of a Grand Officer of the Court
Detail
Introduced 1814
C.M. Frank (Vienna), 1909
Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Monturdepot
© KHM
INFORMATION AND EXHIBITION PROGRAMME
GUIDED TOURS
Would you like to book a guided tour? Please contact:
+43 1 525 24 - 5202
[email protected]
EXHIBITION
CAGALOGUE
Monica Kurzel-Runtscheiner
DER KONGRESS FÄHRT
Leihwagen, Lustfahrten und Luxus-Outfits am Wiener Kongress
1814/1815
Sabine Haag (Ed.)
German, 88 pages, € 14,95
ISBN 978-3-99020-076-6
OPENING HOURS AND
ENTRANCE FEES
November to April
daily 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
May to October
daily 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Annual Ticket
Adults
"Vienna Card" Holder
Concessions
Group Ticket p.p. (groups of 10, or over)
Children and teens under 19
€ 34
€8
€7
€6
€6
free
Schönbrunn Gold Pass
April 1 – November 2, 2014
Adults
Children
€ 39,90
€ 19
Schönbrunn Winter Pass plus
November 3, 2014 – March 15, 2015
Adults
Children
PRESS CONTACT
Nina Auinger-Sutterlüty, MAS
Head of Communication and Public Relations
KHM-Museumsverband
Burgring 5, 1010 Wien
T +43 1 525 24 - 4021
[email protected]
www.khm.at
€ 32,50
€ 16