Empress Elisabeth hated spending time in Vienna. To make the city more attractive to her, Emperor Franz Joseph built her a secluded Palace of dreams in the Lainzer Tiergarten, presenting it as a gift to his wife in 1886. The building is named after a statue, Hermes as guardian, standing in the garden.

An exhibition on the history of the house shows how the royal couple lived:

Photos, plans, documents, original furniture, and, above all, many personal items convey a sense of home away from courtly representation.

Highlights include the empress's bedroom, furnished with a magnificent bed from the time of Maria Theresa and wall paintings based on designs by Hans Makart, as well as the magnificent gym, where the body-conscious Sisi completed her daily exercises.