Eggenberg Palace, Graz. Eggenberg Palace in Graz, is the most significant Baroque palace complex in the Austrian province of Styria. With its preserved accouterments, the extensive scenic gardens, as well as some special collections from the Universalmuseum Joanneum housed in the palace and surrounding park, Schloss Eggenberg ranks among the most valuable cultural treasures of Austria. Eggenberg Palace is situated at an elevation of 381 meters on the Western edge of the city. Its architectural design and the still visible imprint of centuries of history continue to bear witness to the vicissitude and patronage of the one-time mightiest dynasty in Styria, the House of Eggenberg. In 2010, the significance of Schloss Eggenberg was recognised with an expansion to the listing of the Graz Historic Old Town among the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Sites. Surrounded by walls, with a huge portal facing West, the palace is located in the Eggenberg district of Graz and can be reached by tram. The northern corner of the palace grounds features the Planetary Garden and Lapidarium of Roman stonework as well as the entrance to the new Archeology Museum, which houses the Cult Wagon of Strettweg. At ground level, the palace houses a numismatic collection located in the former rooms of Balthasar Eggenberger, owner of the imperial minting license and operations in the Late Middle Ages. On the upper level, the Alte Galerie encompasses a large array of paintings, sculptures, and other works of art from the medieval era through the early modern period, spanning five centuries of European art history. At first glance, Schloss Eggenberg presents itself as a uniform, new construction of the 17th century. Nevertheless, large portions of the building date back to the Late Middle Ages and construction continued throughout the early modern era. Before 1460 Balthasar Eggenberger, financier to Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, bought property in the west of Graz which became a fixed noble residence in the family name. In the subsequent years the family residence was constructed and expanded. By 1470, a square Gothic chapel had been constructed in the tower. A Papal indulgence from 30 May 1470 refers to the Capella Beate Marie Virginis Sita in Castro Eckenperg, the Chapel of the Virgin Mary in Eggenberg Castle, which became the nucleus of the new palace built by Balthasar's great-grandson, Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg. The younger cousin of General Ruprecht von Eggenberg, Hans Ulrich, as a superb diplomat and statesman, steered the foreign policy of his Emperor, Ferdinand II, while Eggenberg's counterpart and political adversary, Cardinal Richelieu of France, guided that of King Louis XIII during Thirty Years War. As prime minister and close, personal confidant of Ferdinand II, Hans Ulrich wanted a grandiose residence representing his new status and authority when he was named Gubernator of Inner Austria after the emperor chose Vienna as his imperial capital. In 1625 Prince Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg commissioned court architect Giovanni Pietro de Pomis with the planning of his new palace, inspired by El Escorial in Spain. As an architect, painter, and medailleur, de Pomis, originally from Lodi near Milan, became the most important artist at the Grazer court. Incorporating the original medieval family residence into the new palace, de Pomis himself oversaw the construction work up to his death in 1631. Fortress master builder Laurenz van de Syppe continued the work for two years until the building was finished, in the end, by both of de Pomis' site foremen, Pietro Valnegro and Antonio Pozzo. The shell appears to have been completed by 1635 or 1636. Between 1641 and 1646 work on the ornamentation was brought to a close. In 1666, Johann Seyfried von Eggenberg, grandson of Hans Ulrich, began to develop the palace according to the splendor and grandeur of the Baroque style and in 1673 the residence again entered the limelight as Archduchess Claudia Felicitas of Tyrol was a guest in the palace on the occasion of her wedding in Graz to Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. Under Prince Johann Seyfried, the comprehensive cycle of ceiling coverings of approximately 600 paintings in the rooms of the piano nobile was accomplished in just 7 years. Hans Adam Weissenkircher began his service as the court painter of the princely Eggenberger court in 1678. He finished the painting cycle of the main festival hall, the famous Planetary Room, in 1684/85. With this, the first phase of accouterment work on Schloss Eggenberg was completed. After the extinction of the male line of the Eggenberg family, the Eggenberger state rooms were left in a half-emptied and neglected state.