Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us about this art museum:
"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 and the Hermesvilla, the group includes 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.
Vienna Museum Karlsplatz
The Historical Museum of the City of Vienna (Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien) has existed since 1887 and until 1959 was located in the Vienna Town Hall (Rathaus). The first plans for a city museum in Karlsplatz date back to the beginning of the 20th century; there is an especially attractive proposal by 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 Theodor Körner, the President of the Republic and former Mayor of Vienna, 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 Haertl 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 Karlsplatz. In early 2006, the foyer was renovated and in addition, new exhibition space was created in what had been a storage area.
The museum presents a mix of historical and art exhibits with the intent of offering the visitor a cross section of the development of the city, from its beginnings in the Neolithic through the Roman camp of Vindobona up to the 20th century. In addition to the permanent exhibits, there are frequent special exhibitions."