On what is now the Josefsplatz and its surrounding area, in the direct vicinity of the Hofburg Palace, an open riding and tournament arena was installed – it marked the beginning of a great history. The riding arena is mentioned for the first time in a document dated 20 September 1565: one hundred guilders was paid for the “construction of the Thumblplatz (training ground) in the garden by the Purgkh alhie (castle avenue)”. This is considered to be the first mention of what was later to become the Spanish Riding School.

The foundation stone for the Stallburg imperial stables was also laid in 1565.

The castle’s history dates back to the seventeenth century. The castle was built by Benedictine monks as an abbey and it was an estate of the Abbey of St Lambrecht. Since then, the castle has served a variety of purposes, including as the parsonage of the neighbouring parish church of St Andrews, a public primary school, and, in wartime, a military administration. Today, the stud farm administration and the marketing and tourism office are located on the ground floor of the castle. The stud farm also has its own library on the second floor, which contains the original stud books of the Lipizzaner breed. Flats to let are located on the first and second floors of the west wing of the castle.

Empress Maria Theresia ascended the throne in 1740 and it was during her reign that numerous carousels, masked balls, equestrian games and court balls were held in the Winter Riding School. As it was one of the larger court buildings, the Habsburgs liked to use the Winter Riding School for their festivities. And the most beautiful riding school in the world is available for all kinds of celebrations to this day.

The Congress of Vienna (1814–1815) generated new impulses when international guests gathered in the city to meet, dance and celebrate.

The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars led to the end of institutes committed to classical horsemanship throughout Europe – with the exception of the Spanish Riding School. Since that time, Vienna has been the only place where the High School of Classical Horsemanship has continued without interruption to this day.

When Emperor Franz Josef was crowned King of Hungary on 8 June 1867 on Coronation Hill near Budapest, he rode the Lipizzaner stallion Maestoso Cerbero – the Lipizzaner was considered the horse of the sovereign.

Under Maximilian Weyrother, the Spanish Riding School became a mecca for riders from across Central Europe in the nineteenth century. His grandfather, father and brother Gottlieb had all been chief riders at the School. He coined the term ‘thinking rider’.

In 1920, the part of the original herd that remained in Austria – the Lipizzaners had been divided between Austria and Italy – found their new home in Piber in western Styria. The Federal Stud Piber became the successor of the old imperial court stud farm in Lipica. Here, the direct descendants of the old imperial herd were bred according to the classical guidelines of the Baroque Lipizzaner type.

The history of the breeding of Lipizzaners in Piber therefore only begins in 1920. After the First World War, Austria was awarded 97 of the 241 Lipizzaners that were housed in Laxenburg near Vienna and at the Kladrub stud farm. With their relocation to Piber, their home was similar, from a geological point of view, to their location in Lipica (Slovenia) where the horses had been housed and bred before the First World War. Their relocation to Laxenburg and Kladrub was as a result of approaching hostilities around Lipica.

The Spanish Riding School and the stud Piber during the Second World War

Rudolf Graf van der Straten resigned shortly after the German invasion of March 1938. Major Alois Podhajsky became the new director in 1939 and stayed in the role until 1964. He had been a bronze medallist at the 1936 Olympics and was an experienced dressage expert who had been transferred from the Austrian army into the German army. Alois Podhajsky passed on his knowledge in his work “Complete Training of Horse and Rider”, which is still a standard work on dressage today.

In 1945, the school stallions of the Spanish Riding School and the herd of mares from the former Federal Stud Piber, which had been evacuated to Bohemia, were reunited in St. Martin (Upper Austria) and brought to Wels and Wimsbach (Upper Austria).

In 1955, the Spanish Riding School finally returned to its ancestral home at the Vienna Hofburg Palace. The first performance took place on 26 October 1955, on what was the first celebrated Austrian national holiday.

In 2001, the Spanish Riding School and the Lipizzaner Stud Piber were reorganised into the public-law entity “Spanish Riding School – Lipizzaner Stud Piber”, which is still wholly owned by the Austrian federal government. The two institutions were merged and commissioned by a special Spanish Riding School law to fulfil tasks in the public interest. These tasks include, above all, the practice and preservation of the High School of Classical Horsemanship and the continuation of the traditional breeding of Lipizzaners.

Die klassische Reitkunst in ihrer Renaissancetradition der Hohen Schule, die von der Spanischen Hofreitschule gepflegt wird, wird von der UNESCO als nationales Kulturerbe anerkannt

The Spanish Riding School's High School of Classical Horsemanship in the tradition of the haute école was recognised by UNESCO as a national cultural heritage.