Belvedere and Franz Ferdinand[edit]
Following the relocation of the imperial collections, both of the Belvedere Palaces ceased to be public museums for a while at least. In 1896 Emperor Franz Joseph I decided that the Upper Belvedere should serve as a residence for the heir to the throne, his nephew Franz Ferdinand. The heir presumptive had the palace remodeled under the supervision of the architect Emil von Förster, who was also imperial undersecretary, and it served from that point onwards as Franz Ferdinand's residence. By contrast, the Moderne Galerie was opened a few years later, on 2 May 1903, in the Lower Belvedere. This museum was the first state collection in Austria that was exclusively dedicated to modern art and came about upon the instigation of the Union of Austrian Artists, known as the Vienna Secession. The aim was to juxtapose Austrian art with international modernism. From the outset, major works by Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Giovanni Segantini were bought for the Moderne Galerie. The museum was then renamed the k.u.k. Staatsgalerie ("Imperial and Royal Gallery") in 1911 after it was decided to expand the focus beyond modern art to include works from earlier eras. The assassination of heir-apparent Franz Ferdinand and his wife, the outbreak of World War I, and the ensuing collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1918 marked the start of a new era for the Belvedere.r.