Schloss Hellbrunn

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Schloss Hellbrunn, Austria.

Schloss Hellbrunn is an early Baroque schloss or palace near Morzg, a southern district of the city of Salzburg, Austria, built in the early seventeenth century by Markus Sittikus von Hohenems, Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. It was only meant for use as a day residence in summer, and the Archbishop usually returned to Salzburg in the evening. Therefore, there is no bedroom in Hellbrunn.

The schloss is also famous for its watergames in the grounds which are a popular tourist attraction in the summer months. These games were conceived by Markus Sittikus, a man with a keen sense of humour, as a series of practical jokes to be performed on guests. Notable features include stone seats around a stone dining table through which a water conduit sprays water into the seat of the guests when the mechanism is activated. However, one seat lacks a conduit: that of the Archbishop. Other features are a mechanical, water-operated and music playing theatre built in 1750 showing various professions at work, a grotto and a crown being pushed up and down by a jet of water, symbolising the rise and fall of power. It should be noted that at all of these games there is always a spot which is never wet: that where the Archbishop stood or sat, which is today occupied by the tour guide.

Part of the waterpark at Schloss Hellbrunn, Austria.

Hellbrunn stands in a large park with a neighbouring zoo, a stone theater and a small building known as the Monatschlossl, or month-palace-let, as it was built during the period of one month after a visitor commented to Sittikus that a building on the hill would improve the view from one of the schloss' windows. The archbishop took heed of his advice, and when the visitor returned a month later the Monatschlossl was built. It now houses the ethnographical section of the Carolina Augusteum Museum of Salzburg.