Archduke Sigismund began the palace in 1446, though the introduction says around 1460. Maximilian I enlarged it in late Gothic style, with Nikolaus Thüring the Elder as court master builder. After a fire in 1534 the east wing was redesigned, and Ferdinand II ordered Renaissance renovations. Maria Theresa commissioned a Baroque reconstruction from 1754, with Johann Martin Gumpp the Younger building the south wing and Constantin Johann Walter and Nikolaus Pacassi credited with the main facade. The text gives 1773 and 1776 as its end.
The Gothic Hall measures 650 square meters and the courtyard 1,300 square meters. Francis I died there suddenly in 1765. Bomb damage in the Second World War exposed murals in the Chinese Room, restored in 1950 and 1951.
Five themed museum areas and two chapels are open to visitors.
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