Laxenburg presents an expansive compound encompassing two castles and ponds, embraced by a luxurious park. Laxenburg provides an optimal setting for an entire day of immersive discovery, just 30 minutes away from vienna.

Two castles in one park

Laxenburg Castle is an impressive castle, which was owned by the Habsburg dynasty for a long time. The Old Castle with its chapel and the associated lordship rights came into the hands of the Habsburg sovereigns in 1306. Duke Albrecht III set the castle on the path to becoming a residence. Among other things, the palace was embellished with statues from the old castle on the Leopoldsberg, and pleasure gardens and animal enclosures were laid out. Laxenburg Castle was used by Emperor Maximilian I as a hunting ground and the old zoo was re-fenced.

Today, the buildings managed by Schloss Laxenburg Betriebsgesellschaft mbH house a number of institutions. The Old Palace, for example, houses the Film-Archiv-Austria, and the Forsthaus and, above all, the Blauer courtyard, which houses the main wing on the palace square side, including the former kitchen wing and silver chamber, as well as the Grünne-Haus, are home to the IIASA (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis). IIASA was founded in 1972 and has been based in Laxenburg since 1973. In parallel, the historic rooms of the Dining Hall Wing and the Palace Theater are rented out by Conference Center Laxenburg to interested parties for a variety of events.