Austria. Media News.

Dear friends of Austria and fellow travelers,

Today we are heading to Vienna (for the most part) to explore its amazing art and culture through the ages, highlighting some of its most renowned cultural institutions.

Vienna offers world class collections, the cultural offering is enormously diverse, and over 100 museums alone are waiting to be discovered! After all, Vienna is a city where world history was written for half a millennium. Art history, as well.

Let us dive right in and discover some of Austria's cultural highlights.

With warmest regards,
Sigrid Pichler & Helen Bitschnau

Managers of Public Relations
Austrian Tourist Office New York City
sigrid.pichler@austria.info 
helen.bitschnau@austria.info  
tel 212 575 7723 x 119 or x 112
www.austria.info 

   

The Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, one of the world's most renowned cultural institutions, invites art enthusiasts and history aficionados to embark on an extraordinary journey through time. The world’s most extensive Bruegel collection lives at the KHM as well as famous “Saliera” by Cellini. Visitors can explore 2,100 objets d'art from the Habsburgs' archives. But the KHM also invites patrons to have coffee, dinner or a party at the marble Cupola Hall. More of the Imperial Collections of the Habsburgs can be discovered at the Imperial Treasury, the Imperial Carriage Museum, the Neue Hofburg and the Theater Museum. 

Just across the street from the KHM, you will find the the Leopold Museum Vienna, opened in 2001 in the Museumsquartier district of Vienna. It was established on the basis of the private collection of Rudolf and Elisabeth Leopold and is dedicated to showcasing Austrian art from the late 19th century to the present day, with a particular focus on Viennese Modernism, an artistic movement that emerged in Vienna around 1900 and had a profound influence on European art. The museum's collection is a treasure trove of masterpieces, featuring works by prominent artists such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka, and Richard Gerstl, among others. One of the highlights of the museum is its extensive collection of works by Egon Schiele, one of Austria's most celebrated artists. The museum houses a significant number of Schiele's paintings and drawings, providing a comprehensive representation of his provocative and deeply expressive style.

The MAK Vienna opened in 1864 as the Imperial Austrian Museum of Art and Industry, the MAK Museum is still one of the world’s most important museums of its kind. It stands for the ever-evolving connection between past and future and counts the interplay of applied art, design, architecture, and contemporary art among its core interests. The permanent collection, in particular, comprises priceless works from various stylistic eras, making the MAK worth a visit year-round. Art and design from Vienna’s fin de siècle period are at the heart of the MAK’s permanent collection. Artists of the Secession movement like Adolf Loos and other proponents of Modernism like architect Otto Wagner get their time in the spotlight at MAK. The wonderful ambience at Salonplafon restaurant invites visitors to linger and enjoy culinary arts from Vienna and beyond.  

  

The Liechtenstein Palaces are privately owned by the Princely Family of Liechtenstein, one of Europe's oldest noble families. The astonishing private art collection of the Prince von und zu Liechtenstein that contains major works of European art spanning five centuries is on display at the Liechtenstein City Palace and Garden Palace. The palaces are exclusively accessible via public or private guided tours, giving art aficionados a chance to dive deep into the life and history of aristocratic Vienna. You will be given an unforgettable encounter with unique works of art and a collection tradition that spans more than 500 years.

Visitors can dive into the life of one of the greatest classical composers of all time at the place where he created some of his most famous works - the Mozarthaus Vienna located in the heart of the city near St. Stephen's Cathedral. It is the only still remaining of Mozart's apartment buildings in Vienna where he lived from 1784 till 1786. Music aficionados get to know Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart from a personal angle and learn about his social life in 18th-century Vienna. The Mozarthaus Vienna was redesigned for visitors and reopened after a complete refurbishment in 2006, the entire building (including the expanded basement) became a centre dedicated to the composer's life and work, incorporating the rooms occupied by Mozart himself. 

   

While a visit to Innsbruck would not be complete without some sparkle at the nearby Swarovski Crystal Worlds in Wattens, at the crystal maker's iconic headquarters where a glittering world of art and entertainment sprawls across 18 acres of land, visitors do not have to travel that far from Vienna: The Swarovski Kristallwelten Store Vienna tempts locals and guests alike into a shopping landscape of jewelry, accessories, decorative objects and figurines on three levels, invites to an exclusive Moët & Chandon Bar and enchants with magical productions by world-famous artists.