Vienna Museum

About

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, 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.

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.

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.

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.

- 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

- 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