Vienna Museum
The Vienna Museum 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, the group includes some locations, 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.
The museum reopened in December 2023 after a three years reconstruction and extension of the building, which was erected after the Second World War based on plans of Oswald Haerdtl.
History
Originally known as the Historical Museum of the City of Vienna, its existence dates back to 1887, and until 1959 was located in the Vienna Town Hall. 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 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.
The Historical Museum repeatedly distinguished itself with its exhibitions. In 1985, under director Robert Waissenberger, it presented the Jugendstil exhibition Traum und Wirklichkeit 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.
Soon thereafter, it became clear that general overhaul of the building was necessary. After some discussions it was decided to combine this renovation with an expansion of the museum. An international competition took place in 2015. The winning project by Certov, Winkler + Ruck was realised between 2020 and 2023. Two floors were added on top of the building — and a pavilion and a plaza in front. The former atrium is now known as great hall and used to display some of the largest objects of the collection.
With the reopening in 2023 the Wien Museum unveiled its new permanent exhibit which tells the story of the city, from its beginnings in the Neolithic through the Roman camp of Vindobona to the present. This exhibit is free.
In addition there are frequent special exhibitions held on the building's new top floor. The other new floor houses a cafe, a terrace, an event hall and an education centre.
Highlights since 1959
- 23 April 1959: Formal opening of the Historical Museum building and of the first special exhibition, on Hieronymus Löschenkohl, by President Adolf Schärf
- 1960: Exhibition on the Vienna Municipal Armoury
- 1961: Opening of the permanent exhibition on the Art and History of Vienna
- 1963: Exhibition on Otto Wagner: The Architects' Oeuvre
- 1964: Opening of Prater Museum; exhibition on Vienna circa 1900
- 1968: Exhibition on Joseph Olbrich
- 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
- 1981: 106,000 people visit the Egon Schiele exhibition with works from the Serge Sabarsky collection
- 1982: Neidhart Frescoes become a new museum annexe
- 1983: First large-scale exhibition in the Künstlerhaus on The Turks at the gates of Vienna, curated by Hans Hollein
- 1985: Large-scale exhibition on Dream and Reality: Vienna 1870–1930, curated by Hans Hollein; a record-breaking 622,000 visitors
- 1986: Exhibition on Elisabeth of Austria: Loneliness, power and freedom, at Hermesvilla
- 1987: Exhibition on Biedermeier and Vormärz in the Künstlerhaus, curated by Boris Podrecca
- 1989: Exhibition on Arnulf Rainer which travels on to New York City and Chicago
- 1993: Exhibition on Red Vienna
- 1995: Exhibition on Hans Hollein
- 1997: Exhibition on Franz Schubert, curated by Hermann Czech
- 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
- 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
- 2018: Exhibition on Otto Wagner
- 2020-23: Major reconstruction and extension
- 2024: Exhibition on Secession movements in Munich, Vienna and Berlin
Collection highlights
Locations
Hermesvilla
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.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 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 and in April 1902. Today the imperial waiting room and study and other rooms in the building are on permanent display.