Palais Trautson (Baroque Palace in Central Vienna)

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The Baroque palace of Palais Trautson is home to the Austrian ministry of Justice. It is one of dozens of Baroque palais in the city. There are two categories of palais in Vienna: The Stadtpalais (City Palace), the kind of palais that you will find in the first district. They are usually more compact, lack gardens and comprise of one building with a mighty port. The Gartenpalais (Garden Palace) was "looser", often equipped with side-buildings and always came with an extensive formal garden that served as a stage for representation. It included all sorts of follies and playful details.

The outlay of a typical garden palais can be seen in bigger ones such as the Belvedere, Palais Liechtenstein or Palais Schwarzenberg as well as smaller ones like Palais Schönborn in the 8th district.

Palais Trautson is a funny one, because due to limited space, it got its garden on the side and not in front of the main building or between two buildings. Palais Trautson is one of the most splendid Austrian Palais - another one of significance is a next-door neighbour: Palais Auersperg. Both palaces are private property or used by government organisations, they are therefore not open for the general public. However, on the grounds of the former gardens of Palais Trautson, a public park was built.