MuseumsQuartier Vienna is a museum district within the city center, offering around 60,000 m2 (645,000 sq.ft) of mostly modern and contemporary art.
The district is a comparatively recent addition to Vienna’s cultural life, as it was completed in 2001…
…even though the oldest building in the district, the historical royal stalls, today’s “Messepalast“, was built during the early 18th century.
In fact, among the district’s charms is the way it skillfully combines old and new, creating a smooth transition to the nearby Vienna Art History Museum and Museum of Natural History buildings…
…and to the royal Hofburg palace, with its art collections & treasures, also a short walking distance away.
PHOTO: MuseumsQuartier (www.mqw.at) Baroque facade and the buildings main entrance portal. Within the main entrance (before the inner courtyard), there is a gift shop, as well as a bookstore, selling art and tourism related books.
PHOTO: Leopold Museum, with a glass bridge (that connects Kunsthalle to Leopold Museum) that has a cafe, ‘Cafe Leopold‘, featuring a popular summer terrace.
PHOTO: MUMOK Museum’s unique monolithic structure. The geometrically shaped things in front of the building are “benches”, enthusiastically used by the locals since the museum opened its doors in 2001.
PHOTO: Messepalast, containing Wien Kunsthalle, Architekturzentrum Wien (www.azw.at), and Tanzquartier Wien (www.tqw.at), is the oldest of the district buildings. It was originally built as royal stalls by Emperor Karl VI (in 1713), from plans by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach.
PHOTO: One of the MuseumsQuartier highlights is the pictured Zoom children’s museum (www.kindermuseum.at). Zoom is an interactive museum, where children can experience sciences, arts, architecture, and culture.
The museum district museums include…
- Leopold Museum,
- Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation (MUMOK),
- Wien Kunsthalle, and
- Tobacco Museum.
Also, the buildings house several art societies, such as Wien Tanzquartier, Quarter 21, and a children’s theater.
Of the museums, Leopold Museum (www.leopoldmuseum.org) is known for its collection of modern Austrian art.
The number one highlight of the museum is its collection of Egon Schieleartworks, the world’s largest of its kind.
MUMOK (www.mumok.at), on the other hand, is one of the most important modern and contemporary art museums in Europe.
Collections at the museum include artworks from:
- Picasso,
- Warhol,
- Joseph Beuys,
- Jasper Johns, and
- Roy Lichtenstein.
MuseumsQuartier Vienna
Address: Museumsplatz 1/5, A-1070 Vienna, Austria
Facebook: Facebook.com/MuseumsQuartierWien
Google+: Plus.google.com/u/0/116830384756221889483/
Pinterest: Pinterest.com/MQWien/
Twitter: Twitter.com/MQWien
Youtube: Youtube.com/MuseumsQuartierWien
Official website: MQW.at
MuseumsQuartier is also one of the central locations for the annual Vienna festival weeks (www.festwochen.at).