Schloss Hof

Schloss Hof is a palace located in Marchfeld, Austria near the border with Slovakia. It once belonged to Prince Eugene of Savoy who purchased it late in his life in 1726. He had it enlarged in the Baroque style by the architect Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt in 1729, and used it as an elaborate hunting lodge. He left it to a niece in his will, and it was later purchased by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and became part of the imperial estates. The castle was built in the 1620s to the east of what was then the medieval fortress of Hof. After Prince Eugene of Savoy acquired the complex in 1725, he expanded it into a representative country residence. In 1755 the castle came into the possession of Austria's sovereign Maria Theresa. From 1773 to 1775, Franz Anton Hillebrandt carried out a conversion and expansion to give it the appearance it has today.