The Fliederbrunn Imperial Palace (Hulstrian: Schloss Fliederbrunn) in Kien, Greater Hulstria, is one of the most important cultural monuments in the Imperial Crownlands and since the 1900s has also been one of the major tourist attractions in Kien. The palace and its gardens illustrate the tastes, interests and aspirations of successive Rothingren monarchs. Within those gardens is the Fliederbrunn Tiergarten, the world oldest continuous zoo. Fliederbrunn serves as the winter residence of the Imperial Family, however Phönixstein Castle is the family's prefered Summer Residence, and Fliederbrunn is therefore officially known as the Winter Palace; Fliederbrunn Palce, due to its influence, in the media is a commonly used term to refer and symbolize to the monarch as a whole.
Fliederbrunn Palace sits at the northern end of the Kaiserforum (Imperial Forum), a large park in Kien that contains several important government buildings including the Imperial Diet.
Fliederbrunn is the private property of the Rothingren-Traugott Imperial Family, and the residence itself is no longer open to the public, except on certain occasions, however the grounds are open to the public and the tiergarten and the additions on the palace such as the Museums may be visited for a fee. The Imperial Library and Treasury are owned by the Hulstrian State.
As the official seat for all of the Hulstrian, as well as several other, governments, the Palace has had several additions made over its multicentury existance including:
Several Chapels;
The Imperial Museum of Art and the Imperial Museum of History;
Fliederbibliothek(the Imperial Library);
Schatzkammer(the Treasury);
Brunntheater(the National Theatre), and;
The Luthori Riding School and Stables.
History[]
Schloss Fliederbrunn was first commissioned by Franz I as the official residence of the Imperial Hulstrian Family, the Rothingrens , within the Imperial Capital City of Kien. The Emperor and his family had recently moved into the first Imperial Residence, Schloss Phönixstein, and already he had growned tired of the 2 hour long journey each day to the Imperial Capital. So in September of 1665, Franz I commission Karl von Vorm, the architect of Phönixstein, to build him a new palace on a large plot of land that sat on the north edge of Kein. Vorm not only had to design the palace, but the Emperor had requested he design a massive series of gardens around it, as well as a Tiergarten, the world's first zoo. Vorm decided not to build the palace in the Gothic style of Phönixstein, but rather to build it in the style of the time, thus constructing a Baroque Palace. Construction was not only occurring on the palace but also occurred all around it. The Palace sat at the northern edge of what would come to be call the Kaiserforum, a massive series of parks, garden, avenues, and government buildings. Today the Kaiserforum not only includes the palace but the Imperial Diet, the National Cathedral, and most of the other government headquarters. Fliederbrunn was officially finished in 1675 and Franz I lived in it for only one years before he died in 1676.