Halloween Ball

As twilight surrenders to the witching hour, the palace stirs.

From 6:00 PM the night opens with a slow, sumptuous dinner.

From 8:00 PM the salons and ballrooms unfurl for music, dark cabaret, and deliciously dangerous encounters.

Let yourself wonder into the darkness - the most bewitching moments will find you in the shadows.

Rooms & Vignettes:

Moonlit Conservatory (Wintergarten)
Where smoke and moonlight conspire to illuminate sultry silhouettes. Smoke-kissed burlesque acts take the stage, backed by Swing & Roll DJs and macabre variety interludes.

Grand Phantom Ballroom (Rosenkavalier Saal)
Couples sway in a flirtatious, macabre embrace - Gomez-and-Morticia style - beneath haunted chandeliers, moving with mischievous grace. The Randy Dandies Sextet plays live, underscoring Burlesque Vignettes while DJs spin between sets to keep the crowd dancing; theatrical performances blur glamour and dread.

Kinky Cabinet of Curiosities (Kronprinz Rudolf Saal)
The Naked Word opens the scene. Bare storytellers reciting ghostly tales that blur confession and desire. As the night deepens, the space shifts into a torture-chamber fantasia: devilish temptresses tempt and seduce with pole work and fetish showcases.

Opium Piano Salon (Kaiser Saal)
Where a siren seduces and time dilates: an intimate chanteuse and pianist sharing haunting duets. Slow, sultry performances invite close listening and lingering glances amid soft lighting as you sip at the bar.

Blue Hour Séance Salon (Idomeneo Saal)
When the night slows and senses sharpen: immersive burlesque performances envelop the room as tango and blues sets coax couples into close, intoxicating embrace. Dark lounges and flickering light invite lingering dances and seductive discoveries.

Dress Guide — Nocturne of Velvet Shadows

An adult dress-up evening of burlesque glamour and gothic decadence. Think sultry, theatrical, and slightly sinister - elegant, not merely a Halloween costume.

Palette & fabrics
Deep jewel tones, midnight black, blood red, eggplant, and smoke gray; velvet, satin, lace, sheer mesh, leather, and sequins.

Silhouettes
Corsetry, structured waistlines, tailored tuxedos, long coats, high slits, dramatic capes, fishnets, garters, gloves, and stockings.

Accessories & details
Masquerade masks, dramatic hats, chokers, vintage brooches, canes or pocket watches, dark veils, and theatrical makeup - smoky eyes, sculpted cheekbones, bold lips.

Tone & intent
Seductive, intentional, and polished. Aim for at least three deliberate style elements (e.g., corset + mask + gloves). Grooming should be precise; accessories should enhance, not overwhelm.

Dresscode
Adults-only, consensual space - revealing or fetish pieces are welcome.

Dress to enchant, to entice, and be frightfully fabulous.

VIP table:

This ticket includes admission for up to 6 people at a table in the Rosenkavalier Salon.

MENU:

Classic Menu:

Bread Service
Rustic organic crusty bread
Served in an elegant silver basket with salted premium butter and homemade basil pesto

Starter Velvety pumpkin cream soup Made from roasted Hokkaido pumpkin, refined with a touch of ginger, crème fraîche and Styrian pumpkin seed oil

Main Course
Pink-roasted Black Angus beef fillet
Served with grilled green asparagus, Hasselback potato and aromatic truffle jus

Dessert
Pistachio ice cream dumpling
Garnished with berry sauce and finely ground biscuit crumble

Vegetarian Menu:

Bread Service
Rustic organic crusty bread
Served in an elegant silver basket with salted premium butter and homemade basil pesto

Starter Velvety pumpkin cream soup Made from roasted Hokkaido pumpkin, refined with a touch of ginger, crème fraîche and Styrian pumpkin seed oil

Main Course
Cauliflower and broccoli steak
Gently cooked and seared, served with a crispy Hasselback potato and fresh chimichurri

Dessert
Pistachio ice cream dumpling
Garnished with berry sauce and finely ground biscuit crumble

Place

The Palais Auersperg, earlier called Palais Rosenkavalier, is a baroque palace at Auerspergstraße 1 in Vienna's Josefstadt district.


HISTORY

The Palais Auersperg was built in the years between 1706 and 1710 on the plot of the former Rottenhof with the plans of the two well-known architects Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt for Hieronymus Capece de Rofrano, to whom the former name "Rosenkavalier" refers. The middle part of the Palais was altered between 1720 and 1723 by Johann Christian Neupauer.

In 1749 Prince Joseph of Saxe-Hildburghausen started to use the Palais as his winter residence. He hired Giuseppe Bonno as musical conductor of the palais. Between 1754 and 1761 weekly music courses were held during the winter months. From 1759, he rented the Palais and hired Christoph Willibald Gluck as head conductor of the concerts held there.

In 1777 Prince Johann Adam of Auersperg, friend and confidant of Emperor Francis I and Maria Theresia, bought the Palais, at that time still called Palais Rofrano. From 1786 the Palais was renamed Palais Auersperg and was the setting for a series of important and well-known musical events, notably Idomeneo by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Sieben Worte des Erlösers am Kreuze by Joseph Haydn were performed there. As Johann Adam of Auersperg's second marriage stayed childless and the children of his first marriage had already died, he adopted his nephew Carl Auersperg (1750–1822). Carl accepted his inheritance in 1795. Unforunately, the marriage of Carl and his wife Josepha also remaineded childless, so in 1812 they adopted Prince Vinzens Auersperg, who accepted his inheritance in 1817. In the time between 1827 and 1837 Prince Wasa stayed at the Palais Auersperg with the Swedish Royal Family because his inheritance had been contested in Sweden. In 1864, on the orders of Vinzens Auersperg, a ballroom building was built along the Lerchenfelderstrasse. After his death in 1872 his widow Wilhelmine commissioned further alterations to the ballroom building in order to rent the facilities to the Geometric Institute. In 1878 Franz Joseph Emanuel (1856–1938), son of Wilhelmine Auersperg, and his wife Wilhelmine Kinsky took possession of the Palais Auersperg. Wilhelmine Kinsky organized many charity events for the benefit of the organization called Vereinigung zur Errettung verwahrloster Kinder. Pieces of theatre and music were performed in the Rosenkavaliersaal, partially with the participation of members of the aristocracy. In 1901 Franz Joseph Auersperg returned the ballroom building to its initial use. Unfortunately, in the course of the Second World War the ballroom building was completely destroyed and the remains were therefore removed.

Between 1923 and 1935 the Palais Auersperg was temporarily rented to the Bundesdenkmalamt and a film company. In 1940 Ferdinand Auersperg (1887–1942) inherited the Palais and in 1942 his sister Christiane Croy accepted her inheritance. She lived with her family in the upper rooms of the Palais during the Second World War. They also hid members of the resistance there during the Second World War and there is a sign near the entrance of the Palais which commemorates this. In 1944 the organization „Provisorische österreichische Nationalkomitee“, better known as O5, was established in the Palais. In 1945 the Palais was seized by the Alliierte Kommandantur, the police force of the Allied Control Council, and was subsequently used as their headquarters.

Konsul Alfred Weiss, founder of Arabia Kaffee, bought the Palais in 1953. In 1953 and 1954 it was extended by the architect Oswald Haerdtl who added the orangery, the winter garden and more functional rooms. Alfred Weiss opened a large café for 600 guests in the Palais, with a terrace next to it. After his death, his descendants sold the Palais to a company called General Partners A.G..

In the beginning of 2006 the Palais was sold again to an old European family. The State Apartments remained the same and are still used for musical purposes. In the upper floor most areas have been changed into office rooms. In the next few years the Palais will be restored and a small museum is planned. Currently the Palais is used for balls and musical events of various kinds; it has eleven rooms and can accommodate up to 1000 guests.