HETZENDORF, Johann Ferdinand
Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg (born as Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorfer, also known as Johann Ferdinand von Hohenberg) was an Austrian architect.
He was the son of the painter Johann Samuel Hetzendorfer from the Upper Palatinate and his wife Theresia Ursula Nefzer. After studying at the Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna, he undertook trips to Germany and Italy, where he worked for the time as a theatre decorator. In 1758 he became an honorary member of the newly founded Academy of Augsburg. He was protected by Count Wenzel Anton Kaunitz, Chancellor of Maria Theresia, so that in 1765 he was given the architectural direction of Schönbrunn Palace, which Maria Theresia redesigned after the death of her husband, Emperor Franz Stephan von Lorraine.
In 1766 he was ennobled and bore the name of Hetzendorf von Hohenberg. From 1769 to 1772 he was professor at the architecture school of the Viennese Academy, from 1773 until his death its director. In 1773 he became a member of the Académie de France in Rome. In 1775 he was appointed court architect.
His first work was the interior decoration of the Schönbrunner Schlosstheater, which was furnished by him in a still Rococo style. Hetzendorf was particularly important as a designer of the palace gardens, where some sculptures were designed according to his plans, such as the Neptune Fountain. The most striking building of the Schlossgarten, the Gloriette (1772-75), also comes from his planning.
In 1783 he built the Palais Pallavicini (at that time Palais Fries) at Josephsplatz, opposite the Hofburg. In the following years Hetzendorf von Hohenberg dealt mainly with the transformation of churches, particularly the Minorite Church and the Augustine Church in Vienna, both originally Gothic churches, later changed to Baroque. He redesigned the interiors in Gothic fashion.
