Hermesvilla

Today, the Hermesvilla is noted for its art and natural setting, and is used by the Vienna Museum for special exhibitions on cultural history.

In 1886, the villa, and all surrounding buildings, including riding facilities and stables for the horses of Empress Elisabeth, were finished.

In developing the grounds, Emperor Franz Joseph ordered that care be taken to flatten all the meadows and remove all molehills, expressing concern that otherwise the Empress "could not hack her horses" there.

During the post-WWII Russian occupation of Vienna from 1945 to 1955, the Villa was looted by the Soviets, became run down and remained in poor condition for a number of years.

Since then the Hermesvilla has become a "jewel" in the heart of the 2500 hectare nature reserve and is a popular destination, particularly for people interested in Habsburg culture, history, and the "Sisi Myth" of the beautiful and unhappy Empress who had met a tragic fate[3] Murals by Hans Makart, Gustav Klimt and Victor Tilgner are an integral part of the interior design.

It also contains murals in the Pompeian style by August Eisenmenger, Hugo Charlemont and Adolf Falkensteiner, showing various sports.

In this statue, commissioned in 1998, installed in the Lainzer Tiergarten in 2001, and moved to the Hermesvilla in 2006,[4] the artist used the a central theme of "duty - escape - freedom“ (zwang – flucht – freiheit),[5] reflecting the Empress' inner feelings.

For seven weeks the stallions were given holidays at this location, where their riders gave them a change in routine from their usual work, taking them out hacking in the nearby forests of the "Tiergarten".