Kunsthistorisches Museum

The newly constructed museum building in the Vienna Ringstraße was ceremoniously opened in 1891. For the first time, most of the imperial Habsburg collections were housed under one roof, the monumental building itself being conceived as a memorial to Habsburg patronage. The architects Gottfried Semper (1803- 1879) and Karl von Hasenauer (1833- 1894) designed the building in the style of the Italian Renaissance, establishing in the spirit of Historicism a link with an epoch of especial significance for the arts and sciences.

The magnificent architecture creates a fitting setting for the artistic treasures assembled by the Habsburgs, for centuries enthusiastic patrons and collectors. The collections of the Kunsthistorische Museum are amongst the most important and spectacular in the world. The 16th century Kunst- und Wunderkammer (art and treasure chambers) of Archduke Ferdinand and of Emperor Rudolph II, together with the baroque collections of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm form the nucleus of the Museums magnificent collections, in which the taste and artistic preferences of these and other connoisseurs of the Imperial Familiy are still discernible today, thus conveying a sense of the Imperial glory of the art- loving Habsburg dynasty. The Museums collections range from Ancient Egyptian and Greek and Roman Antiquities to the Collections of Medieval Art to the splendid Renaissance and Baroque Collections.

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Contact Information

Kunsthistorisches Museum
Maria Theresien-Platz
1010 Wien

Tel. +43152524417

http://www.khm.at