The Royal Staircase

In the past, the horse-drawn carriages halted in front of the Fürstenstiege, the Ceremonial Staircase at today's lobby, allowing the guests of the Prince of Württemberg to step out and ascend to the private apartments on the first floor, the Belle Etage.
The walls of the Ceremonial Staircase are not made of marble but of so-called stucco lustro - a very sophisticated and expensive technique resembling genuine marble. If you put your palms on the wall they don't feel cold - as is the case with genuine marble - but turn warm instead.

The Donauweibchen (Danube Mermaid) is an original by Hans Gasser. A copy of the Imperial's nymph is located at the Viennese Stadtpark. The legendary Donauweibchen is a mermaid living at the bottom of the river having been held responsible for men's drowning.

Where today's Donauweibchen is located, there was a passage to the service staircase in the past. Above the Ceremonial Staircase you see a painting by Emperor Francis Joseph I, presumably at the age of 34, painted by Zaszer. Even in times of occupation and when the Imperial was the Russian headquarters after the war, the painting remained there and was never removed. The Emperor has endured alas - a typical feature of Vienna.

Above the door arches on your way up to the Belle Etage you see the Württemberg emblem, today the logo of the Hotel Imperial. The lion symbolizes the power of the realm, the stag its fast expansion. The same heraldic animals also adorn the gable of the house; however, the gable was only installed at the hotel's opening, whereas the former palace bore a cupola-like roof.