Left: Versailles Palace, France
Right: Schonbrunn Palace, Austria
Both palaces were the royal seat of their respective empires. Chateau de Versailles housed the French court of Louis XIV - The Sun King, while Schloss Schonbrunn was closely connected to Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria.
While Versailles is the better known of the two, I prefer Schonbrunn Palace. It seems to be a happier place. The quarters reflect a certain charm and the personal touch of the Hapsburg family, reminding visitors that despite their royal birth, Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth were just a couple trying to raise a family.
I must admit, however, that this view is heavily influenced by a biography I read on Empress Elisabeth entitled "The Reluctant Empress" by Brigitte Harman. The preface reads -
"This book is the life story of a woman who refused to behave according to her rank. Drawing on her remarkable self-confidence, she strove for and achieved the goal that it took the 20th century feminine movement to name "self-realisation"
She played none of the roles assigned to her by tradition and her surroundings: not the role of loving and devoted wife, not the role of mother, not the role of principal figurehead in a gigantic empire. She insisted on her rights as an individual - and she prevailed. "
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