Vienna Sights: Museums

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Museumsquartier (The Museum District) www.mqw.at is the new cultural district of Vienna since 2001. Though a lot of museums and cultural institutions are situated there, it is not only a place for art. It is also an urban living space and people go there to spend some time, sitting in one of the cafés or perhaps playing boccia. The Leopold Museum www.leopoldmuseum.at/index_en.html and the MUMOK www.mumok.at are situated there. If you are interested in visiting a couple of these museums, combination tickets available at the MQ entrance will be cheaper than buying them individually at museum entrances. Note that MUMOK and Leopold has a strict policy of not allowing big bags inside the museum. Even your cameras (unless they can be tucked inside a small carry bag) will have to be deposited outside. MUMOK has a self service locker, which you might want to use when visiting Leopold, since Leopold charges €1 per person for the "cloak room" service. Within MQ you can use the free wireless LAN provided by Quintessenz www.quintessenz.at.

• Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Arts) www.khm.at, €10 (students €7.50 / map €0.50) – Picture Gallery daily except Monday 10AM–6PM, Thursday 10AM–9PM, U2, U3: Volkstheater; tram D, 1, 2, 46, 49 bus 2A, 57A: Burgring Maria-Theresien-Platz (entrance), phone 525 24 0. One of the world's greatest art museums and in a palace that's a work of art itself. Like the Louvre, serious art fans may wish to devote more than a day to its treasures. The mother of all Austrian museums – there is no other word to describe the "Kunst" other than mind boggling. It contains a world-class exhibit of the Habsburgs' art collection, including Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Bosch, and Brueghel. Its, at the very least, a full day’s worth of sightseeing, if you intend to go through it thoroughly and attempt to ponder the importance of each major work. The better approach here is to break up sections of the museum and visit them over a series of days, or if that’s not an option, pick one section and concentrate on it alone. Beginning with another section of the museum, it’s possible to have a lunch or light dinner in the café and then continue through the Picture Gallery until closing time (especially on Thursdays, because the Picture Gallery is open until 9PM). The Museum has an excellent collection of ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman art. The coin & medals collection is also exhaustive in its scope. The Museum cafe is a bit pricey, but good, and in a beautiful setting. Like the Louvre, hand-held photography is permitted to help store and recall the numerous mind-boggling beautiful works of art at the Kunst.

• Schatzkammer (Imperial Treasury) www.khm.at/en/treasury €7 (as a combined ticket with the Museum of Fine Arts) – Located in the Neue Hofburg, the Schatzkammer (also known as the Secular and Ecclesiastical Treasures) is the best part of the Hofburg and an absolute must on any tour of Vienna. It contains the Habsburgs' collection of jewels, crowns, and other valuables — perhaps the best on the Continent. Second only to a tour of the Kunsthistorisches Museum itself, of which the Schatzkammer is officially a part, there are 20 rooms of priceless treasures that give a fairly accurate feel for Habsburg court life over the centuries.

Hofburg Palace

• The New Palace (Neue Hofburg) – The New Palace is the newest and largest section of the Imperial Palace. It contains the Ethnological Museum and three branches of the Museum of Fine Arts. The Ephesus Museum contains classical art from Asia Minor. The Collection of Historical Musical Instruments is self-explanatory, but the jewel of the New Palace is the Collection of Arms. This collection, second largest in the world, houses an immense and exhaustive representation of weaponry from past centuries.

• Albertina (State Apartments) www.albertina.at €9.50 – Once a palace, it is now the most popular exhibition space in Vienna, mainly for traditional modern art. The building itself is an experience as well. It is home to a valuable drawing collection, including many works of the German Renaissance painter, Dürer.

Belvedere, Wien

• The Belvedere, Prinz Eugen-Straße 27 (Take tram D, stop Belvedere), ☎ +43/ (0)1/ 79 557 0 (info@belvedere.at), www.belvedere.at/jart/prj3/belvedere/main.jart?rel=en. Open daily 10AM–6PM. €13.50 (Upper and Lower) - Intended as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy, the Belvedere was located outside the city walls. Its two palace segments, the Upper and Lower Belvedere, later became the permanent home of the Austrian Gallery. The Oberes Belvedere (Upper) contains recent Austrian and international art from the past two centuries. Viennese art from the early twentieth century is well-represented in the permanent collection "Vienna around 1900 and the Art of the Classical Modern." The Orangerie houses temporary exhibits and a collection of medieval tapestries is in the former stables. The tapestry collection in on view from 10:00AM until 12:00 noon, so plan your visit accordingly.

• The Imperial Furniture Collection – Vienna Furniture Museum, Andreasgasse 7, 1070 Wien, phone: +43-1-524 33 57-0. Opening Hours: Tu–Su 10AM–6PM. Wheelchair-accessible. The museum houses the largest furniture collection in the world. It's located just off bustling Mariahilfer Strasse. Take the orange underground line U3 (alight at Zieglergasse, take the Andreasgasse exit). The exhibit displays furniture for all the Austrian emperors since Charles VI (the father of Maria Theresa), furniture by the Thonet Brothers, Jugendstil, and the Viennese Modernist movement. In addition, they show other contemporary Austrian architects and designers, such as E.A. Plischke, Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Luigi Blau, and Franz West. Besides the permanent furniture collection, the museum also hosts two to three temporary special exhibitions on furniture design and photography each year. You can purchase a single ticket or a "Sisi Ticket," which allows you entrance to the Schönbrunn Palace, the Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum, and the Imperial Silver Collection in the Hofburg.

• MAK - Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art www.mak.at/e/jetzt/f_jetzt.htm, Stubenring 5, 1st District, phone: +43-1-711 36-0, open: Tu 10AM-midnight (MAK - NITE(c)), W-SU 10AM-6PM. Closed on Monday. Free admission on Saturday. The museum has the MAK Design Shop and a study collection. The museum exhibits contemporary art, design, and architecture. To get there take the Subway U3, Tram 1, 2, bus 1A, 74A to Stubentor, and U4 to Landstrasser Hauptstrasse, City Airport Train from the airport to Bahnhof Wien Mitte. Also part of the MAK is the Depot of Contemporary Art www.mak.at/e/aussenstellen/c_cat.htm (Gefechtsturm Arenbergpark) in the 3rd district Dannebergplatz/Barmherzigengasse. To get there take bus 74A to Hintzerstrasse or U3 to Rochusgasse. Open every Sunday from May 4 – November 30, 2PM-6PM. Exhibited works include spatial interventions and objects by international artists specifically developed for the MAK. A lovely addition to a visit to MAK is popping over the road for a coffee at the 100-year old Cafe Pruekel.

KunstHaus Wien

• KunstHausWien (Vienna House of the Arts) www.kunsthauswien.com/english/mainindex.htm, Untere Weißgerberstrasse 13, open daily 10AM–7PM (Every Monday regular admission is half off), Tel: +43-1-712 04 91. To get there, take the street Tram O/N and get off at Radetzkyplatz. €6 - Even an avowed hater of modern art can appreciate the KunstHausWien, Hundertwasser's (born Friedrich Stowasser in 1928) major contribution to the Viennese art world. In a time when artists often try to shock the public or merely impress other members of the rarefied gallery subculture, Hundertwasser's manifesto rings out as an utterly reasonable plea: The architecture of KunstHausWien would be a bastion against the dictatorship of the straight line, the ruler and T-square, a bridgehead against the grid system and the chaos of the absurd. Starting with the façade of the building, adapted from its prior life as a furniture factory, there is a Gaudi-in-Barcelona feel to the place. Windows peek out like eyes from curvy, rounded plaster and colorful paint. It's a Disneyland for grownups! Do not miss the Hundertwasserhaus and the shopping village situated about 300m from KunstHausWien. Very similar to Gaudi.

• Pathologisch-anatomisches Bundesmuseum Wien (Pathological and Anatomical State Museum) www.narrenturm.at Open Wednesday 3PM–6PM and Thursday 8AM-11AM. On top of restricted hours, the Narrenturm can be hard to find. Housed in a squat tower, which once was an insane asylum (the "Narrenturm" ("Fool's Tower"), this museum contains some of the dustier corners of the annals of medicine. You'll find preserved hydrocephalic infants, wax castings of tertiary syphilis, antique medical devices, and even a laryngeal tuberculous ulcer. The gift shop sells postcards depicting the best of these. Of similar character is the Josephinum www.meduniwien.ac.at/josephinum/?id=529&L=1, take trams 37-38, 40-42.

• Technical Museum www.tmw.at – This newly renovated museum near the Schoenbrunn Palace exhibits machines, transportations, electronic equipment, and the like from their first design up to their current form. It also depicts the development of Vienna as a city, on all its technical aspects (recycling, power, sewage, etc). The museum is huge (22,000 square meters) and requires at least two hours to go through. Take trams 10, 52, 58, stop Penzinger Strasse.

• Natural History Museum www.nhm-wien.ac.at – This museum was erected as a mirror to its twin museum, Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Arts). It exhibits various minerals (e.g. a collection of meteorites), fossils, stuffed animals, and skeleton reconstructions (among others, dinosaurs' skeletons). It also includes an anthropological section, where you can see the beautiful Venus of Willendorf which is 25,000 years old!

• Haus der Musik (The Music House) www.hdm.at This relatively new museum is a special museum, in that it attributes great value to interactive learning experience. It covers the history of the Vienne Philharmonic Orchestra, the history of Vienna as a centre of music making (Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Mahler, Schubert and others are documented). In addition there are the more experimental sections of futuristic composition (The Brain Opera) and sound experiences. Highly recommended! Look for the happy hour. Take U1, U2, U4, trams 1,2, 62,65, J and D, stop Karlsplatz/Opernring.

• Museum am Schottenstift (Museum at the Scottish Monastery) www.schottenstift.at; only in German). A nice, small picture gallery mainly of Baroque Austrian painting. Take U2, trams 1,2,37-38,40-44, D, stop Schottentor.

• Liechtenstein Museum www.liechtensteinmuseum.at– A private collection of the Prince of Liechtenstein, it is exhibited in his once Viennese Residence. The richly decorated picture gallery mainly exhibits Baroque paintings, with a nice portion of Rubens. You can get there either with tram line D, stop at Seegasse or about 10 minutes by foot from U2 subway stop Schottentor.

• Gemäldegalerie (Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts) www.akademiegalerie.at; only in German) – A gallery owned by the Academy of Fine Arts, to which Hitler applied to before he decided to change to politics. It offers some paintings of Rubens and Bosch. Most interesting are the Renaissance and medieval exponents.

• Freud Museum, Berggasse 19 (Near the Schottentor subway stop (U2) – 10 minute walk, or take tram D, stop Schlickgasse), ☎ +43 1 319 15 96 (office@freud-museum.at, fax: +43 1 317 02 79), www.freud-museum.at. Daily from 9AM–5PM. This small museum is situated in Freud's historic flat where he practiced psychoanalysis for almost his whole life. However, the collection is limited mostly to documents of various kinds relating to Freud's life. Almost all of the flat's contents, including the famous original couch, went along with Freud to London when he fled the Nazis in 1939 and are now in the Freud Museum there.

• Vienna Museum www.wienmuseum.at – A museum documenting Vienna's history. It is split into several branches with its main branch at Karlsplatz.

• Otto Wagner is the most prominent Viennese architect at the turn of the 20th Century. Two museums are dedicated to his work. At the Wagner Villa, www.ernst-fuchs.at; only in German) you can see his private lodging in a very eccentric design. The villa is also beautifully located in the woods. In the rooms some paintings of Fuchs are exhibited, a painter who bought the house from the Wagner family. His painting were surprisingly influenced by the style of the villa... You can get there with tram number 49 (last stop). Another museum is the Otto Wagner Museum www.ottowagner.com is located at the post office of his original design. At this museum you can see the more serious aspect of his artistic enterprise, that of public life. At the museum you can see some of the original furniture as well as his plans. Near the Schwedenplatz U1 stop (trams 1,2, 21, N).

• Museum of Military History www.hgm.or.at – A huge museum near the southern railway station featuring weapons and military maps from different periods. You can also see the open-top car in which Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the last Austrian prince, was shot in Sarajevo. His death triggered World War I and the eventual downfall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the same room as this is the visibly blood-stained jacket he was wearing at the time of his assassination. Near the Southern Railway (Südbahnhof), trams 18, D, O.

• Jewish Museum www.jmw.at – A museum documenting Vienna's rich Jewish residents including Zweig, Freud, Herzl, Mahler, and Schoenberg. Three sites are available for one combined ticket: two museum sites and the main synagogue. Attached to the museum at Judenplatz are the archaeological remains of a medieval synagogue. The Stadttempel, the only historical synagogue in Vienna to have survived World War II, is accessible on through the guided tour. Call ahead for times.

• If you are looking for exhibitions of modern art apart from the MUMOK and MAK there are several other places you could visit: MOYA www.moya-vienna.at – The Artists' House www.k-haus.at – The House of the Arts (see Hundertwasser above) – Atelier Augarten (a branch of the Belvedere) – Kunsthalle (Exhibition Hall) - there are two of them, both branches of the Museum District (MQ) and the Generali Foundation foundation.generali.at – Essl Collectionin Klosterneuburg (see below).

• Film Museum www.filmmuseum.at A cinema for showing specially curated films and retrospective.

• Dritte Mann Museum www.3mpc.net - This is a private museum dedicated to the cult film "The Third Man" which was shot in Vienna and released in 1949. This film is often played at the Burgkino www.burgkino.at.

• Mozart House (Mozarthaus Vienna), Domgasse 5 (Take the U1 or U3 to Stephansplatz. The Mozarthaus is located east of the cathedral), ☎ +43/ (0)1/ 512 17 91 (tickets@mozarthausvienna.at, fax: +43/ (0)1/ 512 17 91-91), www.mozarthausvienna.at/cgi-bin/mozart/home.pl?lang=en. Open daily from 10AM–7PM. This is the Viennese residence of Austria's most famous composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and a branch of the Vienna Museum.

• Small Museums – There are plenty of small museums that follow special interests and are operated privately by the districts or societies. They range from a museum on abortion to the world's only museum on heating systems.