Eggenberg Palace - Impression #1 | © Graz Tourismus - Harry Schiffer Eggenberg Palace - Impression #1 | © Graz Tourismus - Harry Schiffer

Eggenberg Palace

Graz

Museum and UNESCO World Heritage Site | Universalmuseum Joanneum

The universe is in Graz! No joke, but a wonderful example of harmonious architecture is Eggenberg Palace on the edge of the city center. Nestled in a dreamlike park, the palace was planned as an architectural allegory of the universe. The building represents a precisely calculated cosmos. With this palace, patron Prince Hans Ulrich of Eggenberg fulfilled his desire for a harmonious structure as a reaction to the chaos of the 16th century starting from 1625.

Since August 1, 2010, UNESCO World Heritage. Built by architect Giovanni Pietro de Pomis, who also designed Ferdinand's mausoleum in Graz, Eggenberg Palace is considered the most significant palace in Styria.

Celebrating World Heritage at Eggenberg Palace - 50 Years of UNESCO Convention
Along with the Graz Old Town, Eggenberg Palace belongs to the exclusive circle of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. With the Old Gallery, the Coin Cabinet, and the Archaeology Museum, the museum location also houses the most valuable objects related to Styrian cultural history: www.welterbe-eggenberg.at

By the way, Eggenberg Palace is also a member of the Austrian Leading Sights.


    The Castle:
    365 windows, 31 rooms per floor, 24 state rooms with 52 doors and a total of 60 windows, 4 corner towers.

    All allusions to time, to seasons, weeks, days, hours, minutes. This numerical play, influenced by the then still new Gregorian calendar, underlies the castle. Also characteristic of the astronomy theme is the iconography of the Planetarium Hall equipped from 1678 onwards. The painter Hans Adam Weissenkircher associated the seven celestial bodies known at his time with the weekdays, Roman gods, metals, and members of the Eggenberg family, among them a victorious general and an imperial envoy. The twelve zodiac signs complete the astronomical number program on the side walls.

    Recent research has revealed: Hans Ulrich included the medieval ancestral seat of the Eggenberg family into the castle construction. The gothic former chapel lies at the intersection of all axes through the building. It lost its significance and function around the middle of the 18th century. For the heirs of the Eggenberg family, the Herbersteins, had converted the former castle theater into a magnificent baroque castle church. The wing altar, divided into 13 panels, from the year 1470 was sold to America in the early 20th century. Just a few years ago, it was rediscovered and returned to its original location.

    The Park around Eggenberg Castle

    Eggenberg Castle is inseparably linked to its park, which changed with the taste of the times. Around the middle of the 19th century, the landscape garden was created, which largely still exists today. Particularly attractive are the majestically strutting peacocks. And a newly designed park section - the Planet Garden. Certainly a continuation of the castle concept.

    Today, Eggenberg Castle is managed by the Universalmuseum Joanneum. Significant collections invite visits.

    Did you know? An appendicitis ended the great story of the Eggenberg family in 1717. Just 4 years after his grandfather and a year after his father, Johann Christian II of Eggenberg died at the tender age of 13. With the last male family member, the Eggenberg line became extinct. Here you can find more information!


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    Contact

    Eggenberger Allee 90
    8020 Graz

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    What the weather will be like Graz (350m)

    Today, 11.06.2026

    Fairly sunny with scattered clouds. Showers will be possible towards evening.
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    30%
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    slightly cloudy
    19°C
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    Fair or bright in the beginning, cloudy towards the end of the day.
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    Forecast

    13.06.2026
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    13°C 25°C
    14.06.2026
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