In 1559 Emperor Maximilian II acquired a small summer palace in a converted mill on this site. After the glorious defeat of the Turks in 1683 Emperor Leopold I commissioned J.B. Fischer von Erlach to design an Imperial palace on the site of the little Palace of Klatterburg which had been destroyed. For the Glorietta Hill Fischer planned a castle larger and more magnificent than the Palace of Versailles, but the project never came to fruition. The “more modest” Baroquepalace of Schönbrunn with 1441 rooms and apartments was built between 1696 and 1730. In 1744-49 Nikolaus Pacassi converted the palace into a residence for Maria Theresa. There were further alteration between 1916 and 1819, and following severe damage in the Second World War reconstruction was completed in 1952. After the time of Maria Theresa the most brilliant period for the castle was during the Congress of Vienna, which met here in 1814-15.Other important dates associated with the palace are 1805 and 1809. when Napoleon I, whose troops had occupied Vienna, tok up residence in Maria Theresa’s favorite rooms. In 1918 Charles I relinquished the throne here, and in 1945 the British High Commissioner set up his headquarters in part of the building. Today the palace – since 1997 listed by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site – is used for state receptions given by the President of Austria.