[National Defence Academy]
The Royal and Imperial Kriegsschule [War School] may be viewed as the predecessor of the National Defence Academy. The War School was founded on 14 February 1852 by Emperor Francis Joseph and was designed to "train officers of all services for the higher executive service, especially for the General Staff". Originally the School was located at Stiftskaserne, but then, in 1865, it was moved to the War School building at what today is Lehargasse. After WW I the School was disbanded, because, under the stipulations of the St. Germain peace treaty, the Republic of Austria was not allowed to have a General Staff.
On 1 September 1956, the "Kommando höhere Offizierskurse" [Command for Higher Officer Courses], a precursor of the National Defence Academy, was set up at Stiftskaserne. On 1 September 1961, its was renamed "Stabsakademie" [Staff Academy]. Finally, in 1967, under General Spannocchi, who later became Army Commander, the "Stabsakademie" was renamed "Landesverteidigungsakademie".
History of the Stiftskaserne
| 1656 | Acquisition of the property by Freiherr von Richthausen, aka "Freiherr von Chaos" [Baron Chaos] |
| 1673 | Building of the first houses on the property |
| 1746-49 | Building of the "Savoy'schen Stiftung" [Savoy Foundation] as Ritterakademie [Knights' Academy] (comprising the "Akademietrakt" wing, riding school and adjoining buildings) |
| 1752 | Building of the "Pflanzschule" wing, now known as "Sappeurtrakt" |
| 1851-53 | Building of the "Mitteltrakt" and use of Stiftkaserne as a barracks for infantry forces |
| 1873-75 | Remodelling, building of the "Mosertrakt" wing and alignment of the facade to that of the "Akademietrakt" |
| 1943-44 | Building of the air defence bunker |
| 1991-92 | Rebuilding of the mess and kitchen facilities, and living quarters at the place of the former riding hall |
| 1998 | Start of the complete refurbishment of the "Akademietrakt" |