Wien Museum

Wien Museum is a general-purpose, metropolitan museum with a wide range of collections and exhibitions – including the history of the city, art, fashion and everyday culture, from the very early settlements to the present day.

Because of its general approach and interdisciplinary potential, it occupies a unique position among Vienna’s museums. As well as the main building on Karlsplatz it encompasses many sites throughout the city, first and foremost the Hermesvilla in the Lainzer Tiergarten, the Römermuseum, the Clock Museum and the Musician Apartments. Taking the city of Vienna as a model, it explores the general theme of social, cultural and urban change in comparison with other cities.

The museum aims to address current topics and issues by looking at history and working with historical records. This is based on the conservation, research and permanent re-interpretation of the holdings and their significance in our lives today. Although Wien Museum is not primarily an art institution, it also deals with art and the conditions in which it is created. Artistic phenomena are placed in their social and cultural context and considered within a broader framework (“art plus” principle).

The history of the city and the cultures within it are not regarded as homogeneous processes, and the collection of objects and their exhibition are presented and managed with account taken of the lifestyles, interests and recollections of people of different origins. Collection activities in future will be based on the principles of radical selectivity and significant selection. The collections focus on Vienna and are supplemented by artefacts from the twentieth century.

Wien Museum is a repository of knowledge and a public medium. It offers permanent residents, newcomers and passing visitors an opportunity for contemplation and reflection.

To all of them the message is simple:
if you are interested in Vienna, this is the place to pick up its traces.

 

Wien Museum
Karlsplatz
1040 Vienna
+43-1-505 87 47-0

 

Opening hours: 

Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am - 6 pm
Closed 1.1., 1.5. and 25.12.

 

Standorte

Wien Museum Karlsplatz

Only to be experienced at the Wien Museum: a fascinating mixture of art and history on three floors, from the Neolithic Age to the mid-twentieth century.

Early historical highlights of the collection are the sensational archaeological finds from the Roman legionary camp of Vindobona, original stained-glass windows and outstanding sculptures from St. Stephen's Cathedral, among them the famous ”Fürstenfiguren”, the figures of royalty. Weapons and armour from Vienna’s Bürgerliches Zeughaus (Civilian Arsenal) and the so-called "Turkish Plunder" tell of many warlike encounters in the city's history. The earliest Viennese city maps and many urban views illustrate the structural development from a medieval town to a capital city and royal residence. Among the works of art to admire are outstanding examples of baroque painting in Vienna – including works by Franz Anton Maulbertsch, Johann Michael Rottmayr and Paul Troger.

Another of the Wien Museum's strong points is its collection from the nineteenth century. Selected furniture, clothing and splendid works of applied arts, the reconstructed apartment of the notable Austrian poet Franz Grillparzer with original furnishings, and above all major paintings by Waldmüller, Amerling, Danhauser and Fendi all combine to present a compact and multifaceted impression of Viennese Biedermeier.
Two large-scale models of the city are among the main attractions of the Wien Museum, illustrating a scarcely imaginable caesura in urban development: Vienna before and after dismantlement of the glacis and construction of the monumental Ringstrasse buildings. The permanent exhibition "Vienna around 1900" shows paintings by Klimt, Schiele, Gerstl and Arnold Schönberg, and also works by the famous Wiener Werkstätte. A sensation for those interested in architecture is the living room with adjoining inglenook from the apartment of the legendary architect Adolf Loos. Selected paintings created in Vienna from the time between the wars to the second half of the twentieth century then bring us to the present day
A sensation for those interested in architecture: the living room and adjoining inglenook from the apartment of the legendary architect Adolf Loos. Selected works of painting in Vienna from the interwar period until the second half of the twentieth century bring us to the present day.

 

Wien Museum Karlsplatz
Karlsplatz
1040 Vienna
+43-1-505 87 47-0

 

Hermesvilla

Situated in an idyllic setting in the middle of the former imperial hunting grounds, now Lainzer Tiergarten, is the "Palace of Dreams", as Empress Elisabeth once called her villa. Emperor Francis Joseph gave it to her in the hope of persuading his wife – a keen traveller – to spend more time in Vienna.

It took over five years for the famous Ringstrasse architect Carl von Hasenauer to build the villa, a model for many romantic country houses devised for the haute bourgeoisie. The villa took its name from the statue of "Hermes as Guardian" standing in the garden.

 

Opening times 25 March to 26 October: Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays 10 am – 6 pm

 

Hermesvilla
Lainzer Tiergarten
1130 Vienna
+43-1-505 87 47-0

 

Pratermuseum

Just as special as the Prater Funfair itself is the museum: an impressive display of the historic changes that have taken place in Vienna’s bizarre and beautiful entertainment culture.

Here we experience a combination of delight and melancholy, like the clairvoyant automat “Internationales HeirathsVermittlungs Bureau” (International Marriage Bureau)”, Maxi – the legendary ventriloquist’s doll which was an inspiration for the Viennese cabaret performer Helmut Qualtinger – and a dragon from the grotto ride pulled down long ago.

The large original model of the 1873 Vienna World Fair recalls on the one hand the desire for optimal self-presentation and on the other an embarrassing flop – the visitors stayed away, cholera raged throughout the city.

The Zwergerl (dwarf’s) shoes, the giant’s suit and the “Dame ohne Unterleib” – the abdomen-less lady” are relics of late nineteenth-century freak shows that are so distasteful to us now.

And Vienna’s legendary “strong men” are also part of the show.

 

Opening times

Friday to Sunday and public holidays, 10 am – 1 pm and 2 pm – 6 pm

Closed: 1.1., 1.5., 25.12. also Easter Monday, Whit Monday and other holidays occurring on a Monday.

 

Pratermuseum
Oswald-Thomas-Platz 1
1020 Vienna

 

Uhrenmuseum

The Uhrenmuseum – the Clock Museum – is one of the foremost collections of its kind in the whole of Europe.

This is where things will run like clockwork for you among the 3000 clocks from the collection of the Wien Museum. The Uhrenmuseum has a collection that is unique in Europe. It is accommodated in an enchanting Viennese house in the historical city, with foundation walls dating from the Middle Ages, and situated very close to Judenplatz.

At the stroke of every full hour, three floors re-echo with chimes, sounds and carillons from the many clocks that are kept working. They document the measurement of time and the technology of horology from the fifteenth century until the present day.

A breathtaking diversity of types and models from all over the world is on show in the Clock Museum: witty and ingenious picture clocks with hidden dial-plates; richly decorated longcase commode clocks telling of the social rank of their owners; pocket watches and pendants with luxurious ornamentation worn as exquisite pieces of jewellery.

Among the highlights of a visit to the museum is the eighteenth-century astronomical art clock by David a Sancto Cajetano. Besides telling the time, this technical masterpiece informs on the length of the day and the orbital phases of the planets, and with sensational precision. The world-famous „Laterndl“ (lantern) clocks are witnesses of the heyday of the Viennese art of clockmaking.

The smallest clock is a “Zappler” (with “fidgety” front pendulum) and fits under a thimble; the heaviest example is the turret clock of St Stephen's Cathedral, of solid cast iron. Viennese Biedermeier and the Belle Èpoque are represented in a multitude of different models.

The exquisite inventory of the Clock Museum, which was founded in 1917, goes back in its essentials to two private collections: that of the intermediate-school teacher and first director of the museum Rudolf Kaftan, and the extremely valuable collection of the writer Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach.

Take the time for a fascinating and kaleidoscopic walk through time and the cultural history of chronometry.

 

Uhrenmuseum
Schulhof 2
1010 Vienna
+43-1-505 87 47-0

 

Otto Wagner Pavillon Karlsplatz

Breathing fresh life into a jewel of art nouveau: since the summer of 2005 a permanent exhibition documenting the life and work of the great Austrian architect has been presented in the Otto Wagner Pavilion on Karlsplatz.

The Art Nouveau pavilion was erected in 1898 in the course of Stadtbahn construction. Otto Wagner planned two portal buildings of identical design. Today, the Wien Museum uses the west pavilion, where the trains once left for Hütteldorf.

Wagner's design was revolutionary. The many decorative details make the station into a prime example of Viennese art nouveau. Metal and wood were painted apple-green, the signal colour of the Stadtbahn. Gold, and finest white marble were added on the exterior.

The planning for the underground rail junction of Karlsplatz in the late sixties threatened the pavilion with demolition. Protests followed; the station building was dismantled and re-erected in 1977, but elevated 1.5 m above its old level on the square. Now at last the west pavilion is paying Otto Wagner the homage due to him - with the new Otto Wagner Documentation exhibition.

 

Opening hours
April to October: Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays, 10 am – 6 pm
Closed: 1 May and Easter Monday, Whit Monday and other holidays occurring on a Monday.

 

Otto Wagner Pavillon Karlsplatz
Karlsplatz
1040 Vienna
+43-1-505 87 47-0

 

Otto Wagner Hofpavillon Hietzing

 

Close by the Habsburg summer residence of Schönbrunn Palace is the “Pavillon des k.u.k. Allerhöchsten Hofes” – the pavilion of the imperial-royal Supreme Court, completed in 1899  by Otto Wagner. It was used by the emperor and his guests and members of the court as an entry and alighting station when travelling on the Vienna Stadtbahn. The pavilion is located directly next to the Stadtbahn station Hietzing. The station provided quick and convenient access to the city centre and all important stations in the capital and royal residential city of Vienna.

The central room of the Hofpavillon, the emperor’s waiting room, contained a suite of furniture in front of a view of Vienna by Carl Moll. There was also a desk, so he could work while he waited. It was also possible to send dispatches from the loggia.

Opening only by appointment: tel.: +43-1-505 87 47-85173

 

Otto Wagner Hofpavillon Hietzing
Schönbrunner Schloßstraße
1130 Vienna

 

Römermuseum

Once the site of officers’ houses in the Roman fortress of Vindobona 2000 years ago, it is now the location of the new Römermuseum on Hoher Markt, where you can find out about the history of the Roman city of Vienna.

What die Roman Vienna look like?

How did people live in those days?

The presentation focuses on Vindobona’s heyday, with a population of more than 30,000 in the region of Vienna: a colourful melting pot of various peoples, locals as well as immigrants from all parts of the Roman Empire.

The legionary fortress served to secure the northern border of the empire. Around 6000 soldiers performed administrative and manual work and handicrafts as well as their military duties. In Vindobona they weren’t deprived of their accustomed lifestyle for there were plenty of leisure activities to be enjoyed – taverns, baths, theatres, not forgetting brothels.

The legionary fortress was a significant economic factor: round about Vindobona were urban settlements, important in providing commodities and food, including grain, bacon and cheese. Roman cultural technical achievements and value systems were adopted by the local populace, which in its turn influenced the Romans as well. Thus a new mixed culture evolved, which also integrated religious cults.

Construction works since the late nineteenth century have continually brought traces of Vienna’s Roman past to light.

The most important excavation – the remains of tribunes’ houses – has now been extended to become the Römermuseum, an outside branch of the Wien Museum

Opening hours
Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays, 9 am – 6 pm

Closed: 1.1., 1.5. and 25.12.

 

Römermuseum
Hoher Markt 3
1010 Vienna
+43-1-505 87 47-0

 

Virgilkapelle

The Virgilkapelle – St Virgil’s Chapel – was discovered during construction of the underground in 1973 and integrated as a museum into the underground station of Stephansplatz. The subterranean chapel is one of the best preserved Gothic interiors in Vienna. It was erected around 1250 as “capella subterranea” of the Chapel of St Mary Magadelene (the ground plan of this chapel is still visible in the paving of Stephansplatz).

It might originally have been intended as a funerary chapel. However, it had already lost this function by the fourteenth century and was used as a tomb by a rich Viennese merchant family. The chapel was painted with Byzantine-style sun crosses and given an altar dedicated to St Virgil.

The vestibule houses a ceramics collection showing the development of Viennese ceramics from the tenth to the nineteenth century.

 

Opening hours
(re-opening planned for summer 2010)
Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays 10 am – 1 pm and 2 pm – 6 pm

Closed: 1.1., 1.5., 25.12. also Easter Monday, Whit Monday and other public holidays occurring on a Monday.

 

Virgilkapelle
Stephansplatz (Underground station)
1010 Vienna
+43-1-505 87 47-0

 

Neidhart Fresken

The oldest secular frescoes in Vienna, the Neidhart Fresken, are preserved in the house on Tuchlauben 19. The building is fourteenth-century and was adorned around 1398 by the wealthy Viennese merchant Michel Menschein with a large-scale picture series. The frescoes show scenes from everyday life and the poetry of the Viennese minnesinger Neidhart von Reuental (c. 1180 - 1240), also a spring festival and roundel dance with banquet.

 

Opening hours
Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays 10 am – 1 pm and 2 pm – 6 pm

Closed: 1.1., 1.5., 25.12. also Easter Monday, Whit Monday and other holidays occurring on a Monday.

 

Neidhart Fresken
Tuchlauben 19
1010 Vienna
+43-1-505 87 47-0

 

 

Beethoven Eroicahaus

 

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) lived in the Vienna suburb of Oberdöbling during the summer of 1803. At the time it was surrounded by fields, gardens and vineyards. Like many wealthy Viennese, he spent his summer holidays beyond the outskirts of the city.

He wrote a major part of his Eroica Symphony here between May and November 1803. The work consolidated Beethoven’s reputation as a revolutionary force in music. It surpasses all his previous compositions in length as well as in audacity and inventiveness. Originally dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, Beethoven revoked the dedication when he heard in December 1804 that the former first consul had been crowned emperor. Beethoven used to express his thanks for the financial support he received from his mainly aristocratic patrons by dedicating his compositions to them. Accordingly, the Waldstein Sonata, the Piano Sonata op. 53, was dedicated to Ernst Count Waldstein (1762 - 1823). He expressed his gratitude to the princely dynasty of Lobkowitz with the Triple Concerto op. 56 (for violin, violoncello and piano). Both works were written around the same time as the Eroica. Franz Joseph Maximilian Prince Lobkowitz (1772 - 1816) reserved the performing rights for this symphony for six months The first performance was in his palais, where his private orchestra played it for a small circle of invited guests.

 

Opening only by appointment, tel. +43-1-505 8747-85173

 

Beethoven Eroicahaus
Döblinger Hauptstraße 92
1190 Vienna
+43-1-505 8747-85173

 

Beethoven Pasqualatihaus

For eight years, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) lived periodically in the house of his patron Johann Baptist Freiherr (Baron) von Pasqualati on the Mölkerbastei. The first major work he composed here was the opera “Leonore”, which was later re-named “Fidelio” – against Beethoven’s will. The Pasqualati Haus has existed in its present form since 1791.

It is certain he worked on the 5th and 6th Symphonies here, a task he had begun during his summer sojourn in Baden and Heiligenstadt. Later he wrote the small but well-known piano piece “Für Elise” here, and subsequent periods in the house produced the String Quartet op. 95, the Piano Trio op. 97, the 7th and 8th Symphonies, and the Violin Sonata op. 96. Bettina Brentano visited Beethoven several times while he was in the Pasqualati-Haus and recorded her impressions in her epistolatory novel “Goethe’s Correspondence with a Child”. The interest the two personalities had in each other was doubtlessly fostered through Brentano’s role as intermediary and additionally motivated by Beethoven’s work on the music for Egmont during this time.

Opening hours
Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays, 10 am – 1 pm and 2 pm – 6 pm

Closed: 1.1., 1.5., 25.12. also Easter Monday, Whit Monday and other holidays occurring on a Monday.

 

Beethoven Pasqualatihaus
Mölker Bastei 8
1010 Vienna
+43-1-505 87 47-0

 

 

Beethoven Wohnung Heiligenstadt

In the early nineteenth century Heiligenstadt was an independent, wine-growing township. Its economic upswing was founded on a spa and baths located in what is now Heiligenstädter Park. The spa was supplied with mineral spring water, attracting numerous guests for its healing powers, among them the élite of the Viennese cultural scene.

Here Ludwig van Beethoven sought to find healing or at least an improvement of his deafness. This house on the former Herrengasse no. 6 is said to be associated with a devastating event in the life of Ludwig van Beethoven. It recalls the "Heiligenstädter Testament" he wrote in 1802 – the letter to his brothers which he never sent, an outburst of despair over his advancing deafness

In this house Beethoven wrote the 2nd Symphony, worked on the Piano Variations op. 34 and 35, also parts of the three Piano Sonatas op. 30.

 

Opening hours
Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays, 10 am – 1 pm and 2 pm – 6 pm

Closed: 1.1., 1.5., 25.12. also Easter Monday, Whit Monday and other holidays occurring on a Monday.

 

Beethoven Wohnung Heiligenstadt
Probusgasse 6
1190 Vienna
+43-1-505 87 47-0

 

Haydnhaus

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) spent the last twelve years of his life in Gumpendorf, then a suburb on the outskirts of Vienna. He bought his residence in an interim period between his journeys to England, added a storey, and in 1797 moved in at the age of 65.

He also died here on 31 May 1809. For the 200th anniversary of his death in 2009 the permanent exhibition in the Haydnhaus was completely re-planned. It focuses on the last years of the composer and links them to the political and social situation of the time.  The garden of the house was remodelled after historical sources and is open to the public for the first time – a green oasis in the close vicinity of the bustling Mariahilfer Strasse.

 

Opening hours
Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays, 10 am – 1 pm and 2 pm – 6 pm

Closed: 1.1., 1.5., 25.12. also Easter Monday, Whit Monday and other holidays occurring on a Monday.

 

Haydnhaus
Haydngasse 19
1060 Vienna
+43-1-505 87 47-0

 

Schubert Geburtshaus

Franz Schubert spent the first four and a half years of his life in the house on Nussdorfer Strasse. He lived only two and a half months in the house where he died . Between these two locations we can follow a life which, though short, was fulfilled through his prolific and innovative work. He was a musician who alongside – and after – Beethoven was one of the first composers to be able to live off his works.

“I came into the world for nothing else, only composing,” Franz Schubert is supposed to have once said to a friend. The documentation of his life in the two places dedicated to his memory has the objective of illustrating this statement.

Franz Schubert was born in the kitchen of the house on Nussdorfer Strasse 54 on 31 January 1797. He spent the first four and a half years of his life here. The exhibition illustrates and documents the major part of his biography: Schubert’s education and musical development, his family and friends. Exhibits include the most famous contemporary portraits of Schubert by Wilhelm August Rieder, Moritz von Schwind and Leopold Kupelwieser, and also an emotional highlight – Franz Schubert’s spectacles, so to speak his “trademark”. During the last months before his death in November 1828, Franz Schubert lived in his brother Ferdinand’s home on Kettenbrückengasse. The memorial apartment on Kettenbrückengasse has additional information about the end of Schubert’s life. On display are his last musical sketches, the last letter he wrote, and the evident love and care shown by his relatives in connection with his death, likewise in written form.

Visitors to both memorial sites are given the opportunity of coming even closer to Franz Schubert by hearing a comprehensive selection of his music.

 

Opening hours
Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays, 10 am – 1 pm and 2 pm – 6 pm

Closed: 1.1., 1.5., 25.12. also Easter Monday, Whit Monday and other holidays occurring on a Monday.

 

Schubert Geburtshaus
Nußdorfer Straße 54
1090 Vienna
+43-1-505 87 47-0

 

Schubert Sterbewohnung

Franz Schubert spent the first four and a half years of his life in the house on Nussdorfer Strasse. He lived only two and a half months in the house where he died. Between these two locations we can follow a life which, though short, was fulfilled through his prolific and innovative work. He was a musician who alongside – and after – Beethoven was one of the first composers to be able to live off his works.

“I came into the world for nothing else, only composing,” Franz Schubert is supposed to have once said to a friend. The documentation of his life in the two places dedicated to his memory has the objective of illustrating this statement.

Franz Schubert was born in the kitchen of the house on Nussdorfer Strasse 54 on 31 January 1797. He spent the first four and a half years of his life here. The exhibition illustrates and documents the major part of his biography: Schubert’s education and musical development, his family and friends. Exhibits include the most famous contemporary portraits of Schubert by Wilhelm August Rieder, Moritz von Schwind and Leopold Kupelwieser, and also an emotional highlight – Franz Schubert’s spectacles, so to speak his “trademark”. During the last months before his death in November 1828, Franz Schubert lived in his brother Ferdinand’s home on Kettenbrückengasse. The memorial apartment on Kettenbrückengasse additionally informs us about the end of Schubert’s life. On display are his last musical sketches, the last letter he wrote, and the evident love and care shown by his relatives in connection with his death, likewise in written form.

Visitors to both memorial sites are given the opportunity of coming even closer to Franz Schubert by hearing a comprehensive selection of his music.

 

Opening hours
Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays, 10 am – 1 pm and 2 pm – 6 pm

Closed: 1.1., 1.5., 25.12. also Easter Monday, Whit Monday and other holidays occurring on a

 

Schubert Sterbewohnung
Kettenbrückengasse 6
1040 Vienna
+43-1-505 87 47-0

 

Johann Strauss Wohnung

Johann Strauss (1825 – 1899) was the most successful scion of the “waltz dynasty”, thus perforce his father's toughest rival. He started his career as a composer and conductor of dance and march music and was later a key figure in raising the genre of the operetta to scintillating heights. He was an international star in the modern sense of the word, thus went on tours all over Europe, including Russia, and even America. His talent as a showman in entertaining his public made him the darling of his age; even his turbulent private life could not detract from his popularity, although three marriages with very different women provided the gossip columns with the appropriate material.

Johann Strauss the Younger had had close ties to Leopoldstadt ever since his childhood. His parents and siblings lived in the building housing the inn “Zum goldenen Hirschen” on what is now Taborstrasse, also joined later by the sisters-in-law and their children. After the fusion of Leopoldstadt into “Greater Vienna” in 1860, the district soon changed in appearance. From 1863 to 1870, Johann Strauss the Younger lived on the former Jägerzeile, which had shortly before undergone development into the elegant and urbane Praterstrasse.

The most famous composition associated with house no. 54 is Opus 314, “The Blue Danube Waltz”, in fact, it is known as the “unofficial Austrian national anthem”. It received its world premiere on 15 February 1867 in the nearby – now no longer extant – Dianasaal, in a version that seems odd to us today – sung by a male voice choir.

Among the many exhibits in the memorial apartment is a valuable Amati violin, which according to a certificate of 1911 once belonged to the “King of the Waltz”.

 

Opening hours
Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays, 10 am – 1 pm and 2 pm – 6 pm

Closed: 1.1., 1.5., 25.12. also Easter Monday, Whit Monday and other holidays occurring on a Monday.

 

Johann Strauss Wohnung
Praterstraße 54
1020 Vienna
+43-1-505 87 47-0

 

Fashion Collection Library

The Fashion Collection of the Wien Museum is one of the most comprehensive of its kind in Europe, holding more than 20,000 items. The main part of the collection consists of ladies’ wear of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, dominated by evening and ball gowns and formal outfits. The collection is continually enlarged in order to demonstrate the continuous development of costume history through original examples.

It includes clothing for ladies, gentlemen, children and sportswear together with the fashionable accessories such as fans, handbags, gloves, hats, scarves, umbrellas, walking-sticks, stockings, handkerchiefs and costume jewellery.

And long-forgotten items also form part of the inventory, for instance button hooks, glove-stretchers, finger-tip formers, abdominal belts, corsets, chapeau claque (spring-folding top hat), ice-skate blades, smelling bottles, pages (dress clips), fireplace or handscreen fans, and “Strumpfzauber” –“miracle stockings” - leg-tanning tincture to copy stockings).

Fragile ladies’ lingerie from the turn of the nineteenth to the twentieth century and the twenties are also part of the show, cross-strap shoes from the Biedermeier era and creations by the Viennese fashion designers W.F. Adlmüller, Gertrude Höchsmann and Adele List. Embroidered, knitted and crocheted patterns, buttons and textile patterns complete the selection.

The Wien Museum Fashion Collection was founded after the Second World War by Professor Alfred Kunz, the first director of the Modeschule der Stadt Wien. In 1954 the holdings of the municiple collections and Professor Kunz’s private collection were combined to form the Fashion Collection of the Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien (today Wien Museum).

A constantly augmented library also belongs to the Fashion Collection, with more than 12,000 volumes on fashion, art and cultural history. These are supplemented by photographs, fashion magazines from 1786 until the present day, and around 3,000 copper engravings of fashions from the second half of the nineteenth century.

 

Opening hours
The Fashion Collection is not open to the public!
Library: Monday to Friday, 8 am to 4 pm

 

Fashion Collection Library
Hetzendorfer Straße 79
1120 Vienna
+43-1-505 87 47-0

 

 

Römische Baureste am Hof

Römische Baureste Am Hof

The Roman building remains on Am Hof form part of the rich collection of Roman antiquities from the legionary fortress and the civilian settlement of Roman Vindobona. In the basement of the present-day fire brigade headquarters you can see a piece of the settlement’s main sewage pipe.

This part of the sewage system probably collected effluence from the southern part of the fortress and led it into the Tiefer Graben (ditch) and further to the Ottakringerbach (stream). The pipe followed the wall on the inside of the legionary fortress, leading directly under the wall road, the Via Sagularis. The channel bed is lined with roof tiles (so-called grooved tiles, tegulae). Two tiles are placed in the centre of the pipe with the grooves next to each other. The tiles are stamped, bearing the stamp of the XIII Legion in the form of a table (tabula ansata), as can be seen in the exhibited example. The centurion’s initials are inscribed at the end of the stamp; he supervised production of the tiles.

The pipe walls have not been preserved at any point in their original height of around 1.80 metres. The top was flat and covered with slabs. Stone grids were added at regular intervals. The openings were rosette-shaped with a raised boss in the middle. A cement cast is on display in one corner of the room, probably part of the sewage system of the fortress’s main street (via principalis).

 

Closed until further notice owing to restoration work!

 

Römische Baureste am Hof
Am Hof (fire station)
1010 Vienna

 

 

Ausgrabungen Michaelerplatz

Between 1989 and 1991, Michaelerplatz  was subjected to major archaeological excavation and research. Medieval and modern remains were uncovered, also the remains of the Roman canabae, the urban settlement around the fortress.

The canabae served as the residential settlement for the soldiers’ wives and children. Officially, the Roman legionary was not permitted to marry until the third century AD. He usually followed the custom and cohabited with his partner. He spent his leisure hours with his family in the canabae, where he could also find shops, taverns, and frequently brothels.

After the end of the first century AD two road routes led across the Kohlmarkt and Michaelerplatz. This was the junction of the amber route, which came from the region around Aquae (Baden bei Wien), with the Limes, the road following the Danube.

The remains of four different buildings were discovered at the road junction, probably timber-frame. The buildings were inhabited until into the fifth century and occasionally reconstructed as time went by. The building situated east of the junction is known to have had a vestibule, into which subsequently a shop stall  was built. It had underfloor and wall heating and was decorated with frescoes, as seen in the small vestiges of a fresco with vine-scroll ornamentation. A foundation stone was found west of the road junction indicating the existence here of a pillar-type commemorative tomb or monument.

Nothing is known about the end of the settlement around the legionary fortress. It was probably destroyed for the first time during the wars against the Marcomanni and Quadi (168 –180 AD).

The end of settlement cannot be dated exactly; the top Roman strata were probably removed to build the medieval Witmarkt  (later Kohlmarkt).

The complex was designed for exhibition in 1991 by the renowned Austrian architect Hans Hollein.

 

Always “open”!

 

Ausgrabungen Michaelerplatz
Michaelerplatz
1010 Vienna

 

Mozartwohnung

The Mozart apartment on Domgasse no. 5 is an outside location of the Wien Museum and since 27 January 2006 has been part of the new “Mozarthaus Vienna”. The only preserved residence of the composer was re-modelled and provides an entertaining opportunity to follow Mozart’s trail by means of cleverly selected objects of reference.

Opening hours
Daily, 10 am – 7 pm

 

Mozartwohnung
Domgasse 5
1010 Vienna