Kurt Eigl

Schönbrunn, Vienna's dream palace and tourist trap, has been given a good, if utterly pro-monarchy treatment of its history and famous owners in this book that is beautifully illustrated with color photographs that obscure the dreadful state of preservation the palace was in during the early 1980s. The time after the First World War is hardly mentioned. That 269 American bombs devastated part of the palace in the final days of the Second World War is also only noted as a postscript. Given Schönbrunn's remote location apart from any industry or transportation nexus, it being originally a hunting retreat, an examination why it became a target might have been interesting.… (more)