 In 1780, Prince Dmitri Mikhailovich Galitzin, the Russian ambassador in Vienna, acquired forested property from Field Marshal Count Franz Moritz von Lacy, situated uphill of what was then the village of Ottakring.He ordered a small "Jagdschloss" to be erected, which soon became famous for its social events.By 1824, when the building was already in disrepair, ownership of the estate had passed on to Prince Julius de Montléart (1787–1865) and his wife Princess Maria Christina of Saxony.