Any large European city is replete with all kinds of museums. The capital of Austria is no exception. The museums of Vienna are diverse and not alike. Among all the institutions there are truly unique institutions. In principle, Vienna itself can be considered a museum: there is something to pay attention to. But it is her galleries that cause the greatest delight.
Cinema museum
Many Vienna museums are located in the central part of the city within walking distance of one from the second. If you want, you can get around them all in one day. But this is not worth doing, since you will not have time to consider the presented expositions. To enjoy these sights, you need to spend several hours on the inspection of each museum. And you should start the excursion from the Austrian Museum of Cinematography.
All museums in Vienna are dedicated to one or another branch of life. The Cinema Museum holds research on important cinematography collections that have been collected by the institution since its opening.
The cinema museum in the Austrian capital was opened in 1964 as a non-profit enterprise. The retrospectives presented here of the 60-70s of the last century made the establishment popular among German-speaking states. The museum has its own cinema, in which various films have been shown since 1965. The honorary president of the company is Martin Scorsese, who has been in this position since 2005.
The place where the story is stored
Some museums in Vienna are devoted to historical subjects. In them you can learn about the history of the city and Austria itself. One of the best institutions repeating the history of the capital of Austria is the city history museum on Karlsplatz. Events from the very first settlements on the banks of the Danube River to modern chronicles are documented and displayed here.
Museum of History (Vienna) has three floors. The first one presents expositions of Roman and medieval time of the city’s history. Household items and clothing from this period are displayed here. On the second floor there is a large mock-up of the capital of 1857 and a collection of paintings belonging to the Baroque style. The third floor of the establishment illustrates the Biedermeier era, which dates back to 1815-1848.
The Vienna Historical Museum has been operating since 1887. Until 1959, it was located in the building of the city hall. Since the beginning of the last century, discussions have been regularly held about the construction of a separate building for the attraction. But because of two world warriors, this idea was realized only in 1959. Today, in addition to a permanent exhibition, the museum also has frequent thematic exhibitions.
Museum named after the great scientist
The Sigmund Freud Museum (Vienna) can be found on Berggass Street. Since 1891, the great and famous Sigmund Freud lived and worked in one of the apartments in house No. 19. Here the scientist lived with his family: in the office, the doctor gave consultations to patients. Due to his Jewish origin in 1938, Freud, together with his relatives, had to leave the capital of Austria. From this moment begins the most difficult period of Sigmund's life.
The Sigmund Freud Museum has office space and private rooms. Here you can find the largest library on the European continent with books on psychoanalysis. It has collected nearly 35 thousand books on this subject. The exhibition also contains original things that once belonged to a scientist.
The collection of the institution has a variety of documents, photographs, sculptures, drawings and images. There are also photographs of Freud's wife, Anna.
All art in one place
The Museum of Art in Vienna presents numerous and best works of masters from Western countries. It is in this institution that the largest collection of paintings written by Brueghel is collected. The Museum of Art History contains archaeological artifacts, rare numismatic items, art objects and ancient monuments. Also here, tourists are invited to visit the picture gallery of world significance.
You can find the museum on Maria Theresa Square . The facade of the building is lined with carved sandstone. The structure itself has a triangular shape and is crowned with a dome, whose height is 60 meters. The interior is decorated with plaster and marble relief decoration.
The most important museum of the city
One of the most important museums in the country and in the world is the Natural History Museum (Vienna). It was opened simultaneously with the Museum of Art in 1889. This institution was erected in order to accommodate a large collection of Habsburgs.
The first collection of exhibits for the museum was bought by Emperor Franz I. The modern collection of the Museum of Natural History has more than 20 million exhibits. They are located in 29 rooms, the area of which reaches 8700 m 2 . Antique furniture adorns each of the halls of the institution.
Venus Willendorf belongs to the most famous exhibits of the institution.
What else to visit
There are still many museums in Vienna that would be nice for tourists to visit. Here are the most interesting of them:
- Butterfly Pavilion. It is located in the center of the beautiful Burggarten garden. Here tourists have the opportunity to observe how all kinds of butterflies, including individuals of incredibly large sizes, flutter between exotic plants and small waterfalls.
- Museum of crime. Truly an ominous place in which various exhibits related to criminal activity are collected. Here you can meet all the most terrible and terrible, beginning with embalmed severed heads and ending with instruments of torture and murder.
All of these museums are located in Vienna, a city that travelers often call the "cultural heart of Europe."