The Spanish Riding School in Vienna rents out four venues for private events: the baroque Winter Riding School for up to 600 guests, the Stallburg and the Summer Riding School for 300 each, and the Salons for 110. Weddings are held there too. The school stands at Michaelerplatz 1 in the center of Vienna, and its sister site, the Lipizzan Stud Piber, adds another eight spaces in Styria.
Seminars and company events
The Winter Riding School is the main hall for corporate galas and large receptions. The venue's photographs show gala seating on a floor covering and hanging LED screens, so a presentation can accompany a dinner. The Stallburg, a covered Renaissance building with open arcades on two floors, is set up for standing receptions with bars and high tables. The Summer Riding School, an outdoor riding area, holds 300 guests in good weather.
For a smaller group, the Salons take up to 110 people. A VIP package pairs an aperitif in the private salons with a behind-the-scenes tour: a route through a hidden door to the winter hall, the summer track and the stallions' stables. The pages do not list minimum group sizes or set meeting packages, so an organizer should ask the events team.
Weddings and receptions
The school has a dedicated weddings team. Banquets of up to 600 guests are possible in the Winter Riding School, preferably in summer and on weekdays. In the Salons, civil wedding ceremonies take up to 40 people and receptions up to 90, all year round. The wedding page names a contact for these requests.
Rooms and capacities
Vienna: Winter Riding School, 600; Stallburg, 300; Summer Riding School, 300; Salons, 110.
Piber: equestrian arena, 1,500 with grandstand seating; arcade courtyard of the castle, 400; green spaces around the stud, 200; carriage house, 100; state rooms Pluto, 90 (seminar-style seating), Maestoso, 74, Conversano, 35 and Siglavy, 35. The castle courtyard can be used for a ceremony outdoors, with the state rooms as the indoor option in bad weather.
Catering
The event locations page gives no catering details. The VIP package includes an aperitif. For a dinner or a banquet, ask the events team how food and drink are arranged.
History and setting
The Spanish Riding School describes itself as the oldest riding academy in the world and as an institution that has practiced the High School of Classical Horsemanship for about 450 years. Its home is the baroque ensemble at Michaelerplatz, where the Lipizzaner stallions perform. The Piber stud, near Köflach, is its breeding base, in a baroque castle.
Getting there
The Vienna venues are at Michaelerplatz 1, A-1010 Vienna, in the historic center. Piber is at Piber 1, A-8580 Köflach, in Styria. Enquiries by phone go to +43 1 533 90 31-0 for Vienna and +43 3144 3323 for Piber.
