A number of Mediterranean plants, such as pomegranates, olive trees or figs but mainly citrus fruits were being cultivated north of the Alps as early as the middle of the 16th Century C.E. The name Orangery (ital. "Limonaia") originally only denoted the plant collection itself, shows the outstanding ranking of the oranges within the framework of any plant collection.
Of the about 20 different species of citrus fruits that come from western China and south east Asia, only 3 were known to Europe at the time.
The Orangery in Eisenstadt is one of the most important greenhouse structures in Austria dating back to this era.
The Orangery is known for its rich collection of plants, its size and its variety of green houses. The Eisenstadt Orangery is among the most important ones in Europe. The plant collection used to be one of the most impressive collections around, and is mentioned in numerous reports of contemporaries.
The ravages of war and the destructions of 1969 only spared the Orangery house and its central octagonal pavilion, the biggest and most prominent buildings of the grounds. These parts are only a portion of the original greenhouse grounds that have evolved over many decades and at different stages.
Due to damage incurred during the last world war, the eastern green houses were torn down and gave way to tennis courts.
On two terraces to the north of the Orangery were other green houses and horticultural areas that survived the last war, but were no longer used. They went to ruins, were later devastated and finally torn down completely in 1969.