Which Habsburg Emperor founded the "Spanish Riding School" of Vienna?

From about 1562, Spanish horses were bred systematically by Archduke Maximilian, who later became Emperor Maximilian II. This Habsburg ruler founded the first Imperial Stud in 1564 at Kladrub in Bohemia. It's called Spanish Riding School because the "Lipizzan" stallions were descendants of Spanish horses. Since 1920, the stud located in the West Styrian village of Piber has been home to the famous "Lipizzaners". As the only stud in Austria, Piber’s role is to breed Lipizzaner stallions and mares for the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. "Lipizzan" or "Lipizzaners" are Europe’s oldest cultural horse breed, with their origin going back to the 1570s.

Between 1729 and 1735, Emperor Karl VI commissioned Josef Emanuel Fischer von Erlach to build the baroque Winter Riding School, as it is shown on the photo, which is world famous today and which has remained the home of the Spanish Riding School. Already in the middle of the 18th century, the Imperial Court Stud produced such exceptional horses that those mare bloodlines are still found in the stud's books today.

The Spanish Riding School in Vienna is the only institution in the world which has practiced for more than 450 years and continues to cultivate classical equitation in the Renaissance tradition of the Haute Ecole. This sport can also be found on UNESCO's (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity.