The infrastructure of an 18th century residence also included an orangery, which was designed as a gallery building and not in the form of a glass house. The hall has impressive dimensions, as it is 11 metres wide and 189 metres long, making it the second largest Baroque orangery building in the world after Versailles. In winter, it was a favourite place to spend time when the evergreen citrus trees were in bloom. Like many other orangeries, it was also used as a banqueting hall, being the only heatable room in Schönbrunn. The festivities were a great challenge for the gardeners, as the plants had to remain in the room and at the same time space had to be created for festive tables and stages. Two of these festivities stand out in particular: On 6 February 1785, Emperor Joseph II had the orangery transformed into a fragrant garden to celebrate a “spring festival on a winter’s day”.

This feast was so successful that the emperor held it again a year later. At that time, the table was set up under 2,000 fragrant orange trees and displays of blooming flowers adorned the room. Stages were erected on the narrow sides, on which musical-dramatic works were performed after the table was raised. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri had been commissioned to write such pieces for the occasion. While Mozart had the one-act singspiel Der Schauspieldirektor premièred, Salieri offered the one-act opera Prima la musica, poi le parole. Until the 1850s, the Orangery of Schönbrunn was repeatedly used as Vienna’s longest dining hall on the occasion of state visits.