The Vienna Museum (
German: Wien Museum or Museen der Stadt Wien) is a group of museums in
Vienna consisting of the museums of the history of the city. In addition to the main building in
Karlsplatz and the
Hermesvilla, the group includes numerous specialised museums, musicians' residences and archaeological excavations.
The permanent exhibit of art and the historical collection on the history of Vienna include exhibits dating from the
Neolithic to the mid-20th century. The emphasis is on the 19th century, for example works by
Gustav Klimt. In addition, the Vienna Museum hosts a variety of special exhibitions.
History
Originally known as the Historical Museum of the City of Vienna (Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien), its existence dates back to 1887, and until 1959 was located in the
Vienna Town Hall (Rathaus). The first plans for a city museum on Karlsplatz date back to the beginning of the 20th century; one of proposed plans were drawn by the renowned Jugendstil architect
Otto Wagner. However, not least because of two world wars, the building of the museum was postponed for several decades.
In 1953, the City Council of Vienna passed a resolution to honour Austrian president and former mayor
Theodor Körner, on the occasion of his 80th birthday by making the museum building a reality. A design contest was organised, in which 13 architects were specifically invited to take part (including
Clemens Holzmeister,
Erich Boltenstern and
Karl Schwanzer) but which was open to any other entrants. Designs were evaluated by a jury which was chaired by the architect
Franz Schuster and whose other members were the architects
Max Fellerer and
Roland Rainer, the Vienna Director of Building, the Director of City Collections, Franz Glück, the Head of the City Department of Regulations and the Head of the Department of Architecture.
80 contestants took part and submitted a total of 96 designs. The jury awarded
Oswald Haerdtl fourth place, but he was subsequently "off-handedly" contracted to design the building, which was executed in an unassuming contemporary modern style. Haertl was also responsible for the interior design, down to the furnishing of the director's office. The museum opened on 23 April 1959 as the first newly built museum of the
Second Republic, and remained the only such for decades.[1][2]
The Historical Museum repeatedly distinguished itself with its exhibitions. In 1985, under director Robert Waissenberger, it presented the Jugendstil exhibition Traum und Wirklichkeit (Dream and Reality) at the
Vienna Künstlerhaus on the opposite side of the square; with more than 600,000 visitors, one of the most successful exhibitions ever held in Vienna.
In 2000, the courtyard was roofed over. In 2003, under the direction of
Wolfgang Kos, the museums of the City of Vienna were united under the umbrella name of Vienna Museum and the Historical Museum was renamed Vienna Museum. In early 2006, the foyer was renovated and in addition, new exhibition space was created in what had been a storage area.
The main building of the museum presents a mix of historical and art exhibits with the intent of offering the visitor a cross section of the development of the city, from its beginnings in the Neolithic through the Roman camp of
Vindobona up to the 20th century. In addition to the permanent exhibits, there are frequent special exhibitions.
A memorandum of understanding and cooperation was signed in January 2000 with the
Nagoya City Museum, establishing it as a partner museum.[3]
Highlights of 50 years, 1958–2008
In autumn 2008, to celebrate its 50 years in the Karlsplatz building, the Vienna Museum published a list of highlights of its history,[4] including the following:
23 April 1959: Formal opening of the Historical Museum building and of the first special exhibition, on
Hieronymus Löschenkohl, by President
Adolf Schärf
1969: Exhibition on Vienna 1800–1850: Empire and
Biedermeier
1970: Opening of Beethoven memorial in Heiligenstadt
1973: Exhibition on 1850–1900: World of the
Ringstraße
1974–1986: Free entrance to the museum and its annexes
1977: Exhibition on Vindobona: The Romans in the Vienna area
1979: Renovated
Hermesvilla becomes a unit of the Museums of the City of Vienna; one of the demolition-threatened
Stadtbahn pavilions by Otto Wagner in
Karlsplatz is transferred to the museum
1980: Exhibition on The Vienna
Coffeehouse: From the beginnings to between the wars
1999: Exhibitions on Rebuilt Vienna 1800–2000: Projects for the metropolis;
Johann Strauß: Thunder and lightning
2000: Atrium extension and roofing over by
Dimitris Manikas; exhibition on
Hans Makart: Painter prince, at Hermesvilla. Cooperation established with Nagoya City Museum.
2002: Separation of the Historical Museum of the City of Vienna from city government
2003: Renamed Vienna Museum
2004: Exhibition on Gastarbajteri: 40 years of worker migration; large-scale exhibition on Old Vienna: the city that never was (Künstlerhaus)
2006: Renovation by BMW Architekten: new entrance area, additional exhibition space
2007: Exhibitions on In the Tavern; At the Bottom: The discovery of misery
2008: Opening of the Museum of the Romans in
Hoher Markt
2009: Reopening of renovated Haydn House
2009-2010: Large-scale exhibition at the Künstlerhaus: Battle for the City: Politics, art and everyday life circa 1930
Since 1971, exhibitions have been presented in the
Hermesvilla, a former imperial residence in the
Lainzer Tiergarten in the west of Vienna which
Emperor Franz Joseph had built for his wife
Empress Elisabeth in 1882–86. Under former mayor
Bruno Marek, the building was restored by the Association of Friends of the Hermesvilla and subsequently taken over by the city. The permanent exhibition is dedicated to the history of the building and the imperial couple, who spent a few days there each year until Elisabeth's death. In addition, special exhibitions are mounted on a wide variety of themes in cultural history.
Special museums
Otto Wagner Pavilion on Karlsplatz
Since 2005, a permanent exhibition on the life and work of
Otto Wagner has been on show in this former
Vienna Stadtbahn building.
The building was constructed in 1898 as one of a pair of Jugendstil pavilions on either side of the square as part of the construction of the Stadtbahn in the 1890s; Otto Wagner was the contract designer of the system. During the planning in the 1960s for the new
Vienna U-Bahn nodal station at
Karlsplatz, the two pavilions were saved from demolition, dismantled, restored, and put back in place in 1977 after completion of the construction work in the square. They no longer serve any transport purpose.
Otto Wagner Hofpavillon at Hietzing
The Pavillon des k.u.k. Allerhöchsten Hofes (Pavilion of the royal and imperial court) in
Hietzing near
Schönbrunn Palace was built in 1899 to Otto Wagner's design as a special station for the use of the Emperor and members of his court when using the Stadtbahn. It was not included in the original plans for the Stadtbahn, but Wagner began construction on his own initiative and was finally able to win over the Minister for Railways,
Heinrich von Wittek. In contrast to the other Stadtbahn stations, this pavilion with its cupola has
baroque elements, which could be interpreted as a sign of respect for the Emperor on the architect's part. It was built at the inbound end of the platform at the
Hietzing station, which opened in 1898; originally there were steps linking it to the public platforms.
The Emperor is only known to have used the station on two occasions: in 1899 when he opened the lower Vienna Valley line on the Stadtbahn (between Meidling Hauptstraße and Hauptzollamt) and in April 1902. Today the imperial waiting room and study and other rooms in the building are on permanent display.
Prater Museum
The Prater Museum is located in the
Prater park, in the
planetarium building near the
Ferris wheel. It presents the history of Vienna's largest amusement park, the
Wurstelprater, with exhibits such as an old mechanical fortune-teller and coverage of
dark rides and
sideshows. The museum was founded in 1933 by the teacher and local historian
Hans Pemmer in his home and donated in 1964 to the City of Vienna, which built the present museum.[5]
Clock Museum
The Vienna Clock Museum in the
Palais Obizzi in the
Innere Stadt, founded in 1917, is one of the most important of its kind on Europe. On the ground floor are displayed the collections of the museum's first and long-time director,
Rudolf Kaftan, and of the poet
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach. During the Second World War, the "House of Ten Thousand Clocks", as it is also known, was closed and attempts were made to disperse the valuable clocks for safety to various castles in
Lower Austria, with only partial success. After the war, work began on rebuilding the collection; thanks to funds from the City of Vienna and private donations, it has been possible to add a few additional rarities to the collection.[6]
Fashion collection library
The Vienna Museum has a fashion collection in
Meidling, adjacent to the
Vienna School of Fashion at
Schloss Hetzendorf. This is not open to the public, but the public may use the attached library, consisting of over 12,000 volumes and numerous periodicals, photographs and approximately 3,000 engravings on the subject of fashion.
Musicians' residences
The Vienna Museum includes numerous residences in which notable composers lived, were born and died, which are largely in original condition and intended to afford the visitor insight into the artists' everyday lives. Exhibits include music manuscripts, but also objects they used.
Mozart residence
The rooms in the
Mozarthaus Vienna in Domgasse, near
St. Stephen's Cathedral, are the only one of
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's residences in Vienna to have been preserved (and the original furnishings have not been preserved). Mozart lived here from 1784 to 1787, during which time he composed, among other works, his opera The Marriage of Figaro, for which reason the house is also known today as the Figaro House. The flat has been open to visitors for decades; it was reopened in early 2006 after renovation. The house has several floors of exhibition space including objects such as the desk at which Mozart supposedly composed The Magic Flute.
Beethoven residence in Heiligenstadt
Ludwig van Beethoven spent the summer of 1802 in a house in
Heiligenstadt, which at the time was a suburb of Vienna. There was a
spa, where Beethoven attempted to reduce or cure his increasing deafness. During this stay, he worked on compositions including his
Second Symphony, but also — in an episode of depression and despair about the state of his hearing — wrote his
Heiligenstadt Testament. According to oral tradition, the house was Herrengasse 6, now Probusgasse 6; this is however disputed, since at the time there were no registration records for the suburbs of Vienna and Beethoven's own letters do not mention the address.
Eroica House
The Eroica House is a memorial to Beethoven's stay in
Oberdöbling in the summer of 1803, during which he composed a large part of his
Eroica Symphony. However, Beethoven never stayed in the house. Josef Böck-Gnadenau misidentified the building, because he was unaware that the houses were re-numbered in 1804, rather than 1802. In 1872,
Alexander Wheelock Thayer had identified the correct house: Hofzeile 15, which no longer exists.
Pasqualati House
In 1804–08 and 1810–14, Beethoven lived at the
house of his patron Johann Baptist Freiherr von Pasqualati on the Mölker Bastei (Mölk Bastion, a remnant of the old city walls) in the
Innere Stadt. Here he composed, among other works, the
Fifth and
Sixth Symphonies, Für Elise, the Archduke Trio and his only opera, Fidelio. Since Beethoven's actual flat in the north section of the fourth floor has a tenant, the next-door flat is on show as the Beethoven exhibit.
Haydn House
In 1793,
Joseph Haydn acquired the house which is now Haydngasse 19 in
Mariahilf, and lived there until his death in 1809. The original address was Kleine Steingasse 71 (changed in 1795 to 73), and it was located in the hamlet of Obere Windmühle, which was part of the outlying town of Windmühle but was almost entirely surrounded by the larger town of Gumpendorf and was part of its
parish. Here Haydn composed, among other works, the oratorios The Creation and The Seasons. In 1862, the street was renamed for its most famous residents, and the house has been a memorial since 1899 and a museum since 1904. In one of the rooms,
Johannes Brahms' composing desk is on display. In 2009, the 200th anniversary year of Haydn's death, the permanent exhibition was recast and enlarged; it emphasizes the composer's last years.
Franz Schubert spent the first four and a half years of his life in this house in Nußdorfer Straße in
Himmelpfortgrund in what is now
Alsergrund, the 9th district of Vienna. One important exhibit is Schubert's 'trademark' glasses. The house also has on display approximately 50 paintings by
Adalbert Stifter, who was better known as an author.
Schubert's death place
Schubert spent only the last two and a half months of his life in his brother Ferdinand's flat in Kettenbrückengasse in
Wieden, where he died in 1828. Exhibits include his last drafts of compositions and a copy of the last letter he wrote by hand, to
Franz von Schober.
Johann Strauss residence
The flat in Praterstraße in
Leopoldstadt was the residence of
Johann Strauss the Younger in the 1860s. Here he composed among other works the Blue Danube waltz, whose first notes traditionally inaugurate the New Year for the Viennese.
Archaeological excavations
The Vienna Museum includes a number of archaeological sites which document various periods in the history of the city. All are located in the
Innere Stadt.
Michaelerplatz excavations
Archaeological excavations in the
Michaelerplatz between 1989 and 1991 uncovered among other things the settlement of Canabæ associated with the Roman camp at
Vindobona. This will have consisted primarily of the residences of soldiers' wives and children. The excavation site was made permanently accessible to the public in 1991; the design of the presentation is by architect
Hans Hollein.
Vergilius Chapel
The
Vergilius Chapel near
St. Stephen's Cathedral was built around 1250, but in the 14th century became a crypt for a wealthy family. In 1732 the cathedral graveyard was abandoned and in 1781 the adjacent Chapel of
St. Mary Magdalene burnt down, following which the Vergilius Chapel was filled in and eventually forgotten. It now lies approximately 12 metres under the
Stephansplatz and was rediscovered in 1973 during the building of the
U-Bahn; it is now integrated into the
Stephansplatz station and can be reached from there.
Museum of the Romans
In the
Hoher Markt north of
Stephansplatz, excavated ruins of houses which served as officers' quarters in
Vindobona are on display, together with exhibits of ceramic ware, gravestones and other objects which illuminate life 2,000 years ago in the Roman camp and attached town. This museum annexe, previously known as the "Roman Ruins", was expanded and reopened in May 2008 as the Museum of the Romans.[7]
Roman ruins under fire headquarters
In the cellar of the fire headquarters in
Am Hof are the remains of a main drainage canal which once carried effluent from the southern section of the Roman camp to the brook which is now the street
Tiefer Graben. Preserved in original condition, they were discovered in the 1950s during excavations for the foundations when the fire headquarters, destroyed by World War II bombing, were being rebuilt. At a depth of almost 3 metres, ruins of a wall of the Roman camp, a wall tower, part of a street which ran beside the wall and an approximately 5 metre stretch of the canal below the wall were uncovered.[8]
Neidhart frescoes
The Neidhart
frescoes are in a 14th-century building in
Tuchlauben and are the oldest surviving secular wall paintings in Vienna. The cycle of paintings were executed in 1398 on the walls of a then banqueting room on a commission from the wealthy merchant Michel Menschein. For the most part they show scenes from the life of the
minnesingerNeidhart von Reuental. They were discovered in 1979 under a layer of plaster when the building was being renovated, and have been on view to the public since 1982.[9]