Vienna. Leopold Museum

Hundreds of masterworks of Austrian modern art collected by the passionate art lover Dr. Rudolf Leopold are shown in the Leopold Museum at MuseumsQuartier near the Imperial Palace.

  

The Leopold Museum is a unique treasure-trove of Viennese art nouveau, the Vienna Workshop and of the Expressionist period. As the most-visited museum in the most fashionable cultural place in the city, the MuseumsQuartier, it houses the most important and largest Egon Schiele collection in the world as well as masterpieces by the founder of the Vienna Secession movement, Gustav Klimt. Also on display are outstanding artifacts of the Wiener Werkstätte, from Josef Hoffmann to Koloman Moser. The light-flooded cube of white shell limestone shows permanent highlights of the collection as well as selected special exhibitions on an area of 5,400 m² over four floors.

Egon Schiele

42 paintings, 187 original graphics (drawings and colored sheets) and manuscripts (letters, etc.) by Egon Schiele can be marveled at in the Leopold Museum. Many of his principal works, such as the "Self-portrait with physalis" and the "Portrait of Wally Neuzil", are owned by the Leopold Museum. In the 1950s, its founder, Rudolf Leopold, started collecting large quantities of the extraordinary works of the early Expressionist Egon Schiele. Schiele, who died at just 28 years of age, left behind a considerable body of work, which can be experienced here at close range.

  

Vienna. MAK - Museum for Applied Arts

Design is one of the main features of MAK. The museum shows furniture, glass, china, silver, and textiles from the Middle Ages to the present day. Precious crafts from the Wiener Werkstätte, bentwood furniture by Thonet and art nouveau highlights such as the gilded design of Gustav Klimt for the frieze of the Stoclet Palais in Brussels.

  

Bentwood chairs by Thonet are still used in Viennese coffeehouses, and armchairs from the Middle Ages to the present day look absolutely inviting. Biedermeier sofas surprise with pink, green, yellow, or red colors, because the Biedermeier style, with its simple and clear shapes, is considered the cradle of design.

Glass, china, silver, and textiles of the highest quality and in unusual designs were produced at the Wiener Werkstätte, which was founded in 1903 by Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser. A hammered silver service by Hoffmann or a black and white vase will thrill not only lovers of art nouveau. In November 2012, the MAK show collection "Vienna 1900" was redesigned and dedicated in its entirety to the development of Viennese arts and crafts between 1890 and 1938. The exhibition rooms recount the story of the search for the modern style via the creation of a unique Viennese style to the confrontation of the Viennese style with the international style and ending with the National Socialists seizing power in Austria.

Also new is the MAK permanent collection Asia, which presents Chinese porcelain, Japanese lacquer work, Japanese wood cuts and Japanese coloring stencil plates. The MAK permanent collection Carpets was reorganized in spring 2014. And the new MAK Design Laboratory makes references between art and everyday life on almost 2,000 m² in the former "Collection of Studies" (Studiensammlung). Contemporary art by Donald Judd, James Turrell and others and 12 sofas by Franz West span the artistic range to the present day. Young, sophisticated design to take away can be found in the MAK Design Shop. After visiting the MAK Austrian Museum of Applied Arts, guests are welcome at its restaurant Salonplafond.

  

  

Vienna's Ringstrasse

Vienna's Ringstrasse is 5.3 kilometers long. Long enough to provide space for numerous monumental buildings, which were built during the period of Historicism in the 1860s to 1890s. Today, the buildings that stand there – from the Vienna State Opera to the Museum of Fine Arts – are among the most important sights in the city of Vienna.

  

"It is my will..." - with these words, Emperor Franz Joseph ordered the building of the Ringstrasse in 1857. Nobles and rich citizens hurried to build pompous palaces along this magnificent boulevard. Many of these former private homes can still be admired today (mostly, however, only from the outside). The style in which the buildings were built went down in history as the Ringstrasse style (a type of Historicism). It is marked by a pluralism of styles: numerous architectural forms of previous epochs were imitated.

The most noteworthy buildings are not the palaces, but rather the large buildings such as the State Opera (built in the style of the Neo-Renaissance), the Parliament, City Hall (Flemish Gothic), the Burgtheater (New Baroque), the university (Neo-Renaissance), the Museum for Applied Art, the Vienna Stock Exchange, and the Votive Church (New Gothic), which were all constructed in the second half of the 19th century. Especially worth seeing are also the Museum of Fine Arts and the Natural History Museum, both of which were built in the Neo-Renaissance style. They not only hold awesome art and natural treasures, but are also architectural masterpieces.

Master builders such as Theophil von Hansen, Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer, Gottfried Semper, Heinrich von Ferstel, and Friedrich von Schmidt shaped the image of the Ringstrasse. At the end of the 19th century, following the time of the Ringstrasse architecture, came Viennese Art Nouveau, which turned away from the ostentatious pomp and splendor.

  

  

Vienna. The most important public buildings on Ringstrasse

The most beautiful boulevard in the world is home not only to many of Vienna's best-known sights, such as the Imperial Palace, the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Natural History Museum, the Vienna State Opera and Parliament. Magnificent palaces, extensive parks and important monuments also line the "display window" of the former Danube monarchy.

   

Ringstrasse is lined by Austria’s most important buildings: an overview

Vienna State Opera

Constructed in the neo-Renaissance style by August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll between 1861 and 1869, the Vienna State Opera opened on 25 May 1869 with Mozart’s "Don Giovanni". After the destruction of the Second World War, the house reopened in 1955 with Beethoven’s "Fidelio".

Imperial Palace/Neue Burg

Nowadays the Neue Burg also houses parts of the National Library and the Weltmuseum Wien. The building standing here today was completed in 1913. Heldenplatz lies directly in front of it.

Kunsthistorisches Museum

The Kunsthistorisches Museum is one of the most famous museums in the world. Built by Gottfried Semper and Carl von Hasenauer, the museum was opened in 1891. It holds the art treasures of the Habsburgs, including the world’s largest Brueghel collection and one of the most valuable chambers of art, the  Chamber of Art and Wonders.

Museum of Natural History

Opened in 1889, the building is virtually identical to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, and contains one of the largest natural science collections in the world. The Stone Age "Venus of Willendorf" is one of the museum’s prize pieces.

Parliament

With its famous Pallas Athene fountain, Parliament was erected in the Greek style by Theophil von Hansen from 1874 to 1883. It is considered to be one of the most attractive and important Ringstrasse buildings. Guided tours are available.

City Hall

The seat of Vienna’s mayor was erected in the Neo-Gothic style by Friedrich Schmidt from 1872 to 1883. The events held on the square in front of the City Hall throughout the year attract thousands of visitors. Regular guided tours.

National Theater

Gottfried Semper and Karl von Hasenauer erected this leading theater from 1874 to 1888. Gustav Klimt created the ceiling paintings above the staircase together with Franz Matsch and Ernst Klimt. On the stage of the National Theater: the best actors of the German-speaking world.

University

This imposing building was constructed in the Italian High Renaissance style by Heinrich von Ferstel between 1877 and 1884. Regular guided tours.

Votive Church

Out of gratitude for an unsuccessful attempt on the life of Emperor Franz Joseph, construction of what is today Vienna second-highest church was begun in 1856. The neo-Gothic church was consecrated in 1879 on the occasion of the imperial couple’s silver wedding.

Stock Exchange

Theophil Hansen was commissioned to draw up the plans, and the building was opened in 1877. Today the Stock Exchange houses event  venues. In the basement: one of Vienna’s finest flower shops and a restaurant.

Rossauer Barracks

The barracks were erected by Karl Pihal and Karl Markl. Completed in 1869, today the barracks house the Austrian Ministry of Defence.

Ring Tower

The Ring Tower on Schottenring stands out not only due to its size (93 m), but also due to its modern appearance. The skyscraper was  completed in 1955, and is today the headquarters of an insurance company.

Urania

The building on the Danube Canal was planned by Max Fabiani and completed in 1910 as an adult education center. The leading intellectuals of the time (including Albert Einstein and Thomas Mann) held lectures and courses here. Austria’s first public observatory was installed in the building, and can still be visited today.

Post Office Savings Bank

Erected by Otto Wagner, the Post Office Savings Bank is one of the most important buildings of Vienna Modernism. The banking hall is an Art  Nouveau jewel, and the museum there shows Wagner as a brilliant architect.

Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art

The museum on Stubenring was opened in 1871 after three years of construction. Heinrich von Ferstel designed this first museum building on Ringstrasse in the Renaissance style.

There are also many important buildings in the "second row" of Ringstrasse: Secession, Palace of Justice, Musikverein, Künstlerhaus and many town palaces.

  

  

Museums and exhibitions in Vienna

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

  

Unique Bruegel exhibition

To mark the 450th anniversary of the death of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna is showing the world's first major monographic exhibition on the work of this exceptional artist.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder was a much sought-after artists even during his lifetime, which is why his works achieved unusually high prices at the time. On the occasion of the 450th anniversary of his death, the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna dedicates a special exhibition to the most important Flemish painter of the 16th century. It is the world's first major monographic show on his work. Only just over forty paintings and sixty prints by the master remain in existence today. With 12 panel paintings, the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna owns the world's biggest collection of Bruegel paintings. That is also mostly because the Habsburgs prized the quality and originality of Bruegel's imagery as early as the 16th century and went to the effort of acquiring famous, prestigious works by the artist.

With around 90 of his works, the exhibition in Vienna is the first to present an overview of the complete oeuvre of Pieter Bruegel the Elder: With almost 30 paintings (three quarters of the preserved painted œuvre) and half of the preserved drawings and prints, the show offers an opportunity of the century to dive into the artist's complex pictorial world, to comprehend his stylistic development and creative process, as well as to get to know his working methods, his pictorial wit and his unique narrative talent. Among the highlights to be seen in the exhibition are, for example, the Triumph of Death from the Prado in Madrid and the Tower of Babel from the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam. To date, the vast majority of the fragile wooden panels have never been loaned for exhibition purposes.

The work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, who revolutionized landscape and genre painting, still evokes diverse and controversial interpretations. The richness of his imagery and his astute talent for observing people still exert a special fascination on viewers today. The exhibition focuses on the beginnings of Bruegel's careers as a drawer and graphic artist as well as on his innovations in the field of landscape painting. Another section of the show is given over to his religious works, with a wealth of masterpieces such as a "The Triumph of Death" and "Dulle Griet", which has been specially restored for the exhibition.

  

Wes Anderson and the Mouse Coffin

What happens when the multi-award winning US filmmaker Wes Anderson and his partner Juman Malouf curate an exhibition in the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna? - Spitzmaus Mummy in a Coffin and other Treasures!

Cult director Wes Anderson ("The Grand Budapest Hotel", "The Darjeeling Limited", "The Royal Tenenbaums") loves traveling through Europe by train. And has a passion for old things. So he gladly accepted the invitation of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna(KHM) to browse its collection for a unique show together with his partner, costume designer and author Juman Malouf. For two whole years, both of them battled their way through more than four million paintings, art objects and works in the museum's storerooms and selected their favorites. The result is an exhibition that is slightly different from what can normally be seen at the KHM.

The show "Spitzmaus Mummy in a Coffin and other Treasures" presents over 400 unusual objects, many of which are being exhibited for the first time. In addition to the shrew coffin that gives the exhibition its title, these include ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities, paintings by old masters, a selection of objects from the Kunstkammer and Schatzkammer, the Theater Museum and Ambras Castle near Innsbruck. In any case, the coming together and arrangement of these treasures gives a hint of the unbelievable abundance and density, history and complexity of the KHM's collections.

 

650 years of the Austrian National Library

The "Gründungscodex" (founding codex) of the Imperial Court Library dates to the year 1368. Now the Austrian National Library, it celebrates its 650th birthday in 2018.

The Habsburg Archduke Albrecht III (1349/50-1395) commissioned the "Evangeliar des Johannes von Troppau", which was completed in 1368. Written entirely in gold, decorated with lavish imagery and enclosed in a magnificent binding, it is one of the most valuable objects held by today's Austrian National Library. The Evangeliar, a manuscript that gathers together all four gospels of the New Testament, represents the beginning of the Habsburg book collections and thus the founding of the Court Library. It is just one of the highlights of the anniversary exhibition "Treasury of Knowledge". Also on display are further magnificent manuscripts and valuable early prints, which are representative of European book and intellectual history; moreover, there are precious musical scores, maps, manuscripts, photos and graphics from all of the library's collections, which begin over 3,000 years ago in the Egypt of the Pharaohs.

The anniversary exhibition is accompanied by the event series "Object of the Month": Twelve presentations by in-house experts focus on valuables that are only very rarely seen for conservation reasons. The show takes place in the Grand Hall of the Austrian National Library. Built in the 18th century, it extends over a length of 80 and a height of 20 meters. This Baroque jewel houses more than 200,000 volumes as well as an exhibit of four magnificent Venetian globes with a diameter of more than a meter.

 

 

Vienna. Museums

Vienna has more than 100 museums. These include important collections of world renown as well as small establishments that impress with original exhibits. Artists of the century, such as Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, meet the stars of contemporary Vienna.

Leading museums

House of Austrian History

Exactly a hundred years after the founding of the First Republic on November 12, 1918, the House of Austrian History opens in Vienna. It is housed in the Neue Burg on Heldenplatz. On a total area of 1,800 m², it vividly depicts the creation of Austria, from the Habsburg monarchy, through the First Republic, annexation to the Third Reich and founding of the Second Republic down to the present day.

Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien (Art History Museum)

The Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum) was built in 1891 near the Imperial Palace to house the extensive collections of the imperial family. With its vast array of eminent works and the largest Bruegel collection in the world, it is considered one of the most eminent museums in the world.

Numerous major art works of European art history, among them Raphael’s "Madonna in the Meadow," Vermeer’s "The Allegory of Painting," the Infanta paintings by Velazquez, masterworks by Rubens, Rembrandt, Dürer, Titian and Tintoretto are housed in the paintings gallery. The Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection contains fascinating treasures from mysterious cultures long past.

Albertina

The Albertina not only has the largest and most valuable graphical collections in the world, with works such as Dürer’s “Hare” and Klimt's studies of women. Its latest exhibition collection presents masterpieces of the Modern, spanning Monet to Picasso and Baselitz. As the largest Habsburg residential palace, the Albertina dominates the southern tip of the Imperial Palace on one of the last remaining fortress walls in Vienna.