Hellbrunn Palace and its Water Features
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (382467)
Rockingham, Australia
December 21, 2015 3:41am CST
Hellbrunn Palace is an early Baroque villa in the southern part of Salzburg, Austria. The Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, Markus Sittikus von Hohenems had the palace built between 1613 and 1619. As it was intended for day use only, there is no bedroom in the palace. Tourists flock to the 'schloss' to see the 'jeux d'eau' or 'watergames' which abound in the grounds of the palace. These practical jokes were played on unsuspecting guests.
During our tour of the grounds, six were chosen to sit around a stone dining table. Imagine their surprise when water suddenly spurted from the seats they were sitting on. Hidden fountains are found everywhere. As it was another really hot day, no-one minded being made wet from the various hidden fountains and jets of water which would appear seemingly from nowhere when the tour guide pushed a button.
Highlights included a water-operated and musical mechanical theatre. This was built in 1750 and includes some 200 automata showing various professions at work. The inner circle of the stage also revolves. One of the small grottos has a crown in the centre which is pushed up and down by a blast of water, symbolising the rise and fall of power. The crown rises to the ceiling and back.
The grounds are very impressive and were being made good use of by the people who were there.
I'll do a separate post of the interior of the palace as there are too many photos to hold anyone's interest. Are you like me and find slideshows of more than a couple of minutes just too long, making you move on to something else?
I created this video with the YouTube Slideshow Creator (http://www.youtube.com/upload)
9 people like this
9 responses
@glenniah (1197)
• Mandurah, Australia
21 Dec 15
Anything to do with history and the past is enjoyable for me. The one thing I learned about Austria was the Hapsburgs and their history.'
Yes I agree with Janet @jaboUK with most people a little bit and often is enough then the attention span wanders.
2 people like this
@Shellyann36 (11383)
• United States
22 Dec 15
It is amusing that a member of royalty would have such a mischievous and humorous prank played on his guests. It must be nice to be able to afford a "day" palace. I would love to visit Austria and see the sights.
1 person likes this
@Shellyann36 (11383)
• United States
29 Dec 15
@JudyEv I wonder if his guests really appreciated the pranks that were played on them?
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382467)
• Rockingham, Australia
29 Dec 15
@Shellyann36 It probably ruined their good clothes but I guess they wouldn't have been game to say anything.
@celticeagle (189957)
• Boise, Idaho
22 Dec 15
No. If it is interesting subject matter I will stay with it for hours. I love to do research online and find I have spent anywhere from 4-6 hours and didn't even realize it.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382467)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 Dec 15
You can certainly spend hours researching stuff. It is hard to know what photos to leave out sometimes - so this time I just left them all in. 
@DeborahDiane (40850)
• Laguna Woods, California
22 Dec 15
I wish we had visited Austria when we went to Europe. It sounds like a fascinating country!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382467)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 Dec 15
We loved Austria. We had a young friend in Vienna so it was a very special time indeed once we caught up with her.
@RonElFran (1214)
• Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
22 Dec 15
I was going to say that it sound like Hellbrunn Palace was intended as an office building, but on second thought, I'm not sure the clerks' union would stand for all those water surprises!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382467)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 Dec 15
The Prince-Archbishop was very proud of his engineers I believe and liked to show off how clever they were, concocting all these water features.
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
22 Dec 15
Hellbrunn Palace sounds like an interesting place to visit. I enjoyed the pictures and your description. I had heard the name before, but I didn't really know much about the place. I like the idea of the hidden fountains, I would like to participate in tour if I ever get the chance to visit the palace.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382467)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 Dec 15
There are a few places now where you're not allowed to explore at your leisure but have to join a tour. I'm glad you enjoyed the photos.
@jaboUK (64346)
• United Kingdom
21 Dec 15
That looks a lovely place - it's amazing that they built it without bedrooms. I think you are probably right about the length of the slide show - I would like longer, but I think most people's attention span wouldn't stretch much farther than a couple of minutes.
1 person likes this
