188 CultureShock! AustriaThe Museum für angewandte
Kunst (Museum for Applied Arts),
or the MAK, has a collection of
beautifully designed objects used
in everyday life. Kunstforum
Bank Austria showcases important 19th and 20th century art.
The Kunsthalle Wien in the 4th district presents temporary
exhibitions of contemporary and modern art. It also has a
great restaurant and café that looks out onto the museum.
The Künstlerhaus, which today displays contemporary
art, was the official exhibition hall for artists studying at the
Academy at the turn of the 20th century. In 1897, a group of
19 artists who deemed the academy too conservative broke
away to form the Secession. The Secession building was used
as a headquarters to exhibit their Jugendstil art. Completed
in 1898, the building is beautiful and quite distinctive. It
contains Gustav Klimt’s Beethovenfrieze and hosts temporary
exhibits of modern art.
You can feel a part of history at the Sigmund Freud
Museum on Berggasse 19. This is where the psychoanalyst
lived and worked from 1891 to 1938, although not many of
his original possessions remain. You can also visit the Jewish
Museum of the City of Vienna, the Historical Museum of the
City of Vienna and the Austrian Museum of Folklore.
The Museum of Military History traces the many years of
Austrian military might and displays the car in which Franz
Ferdinand was riding when he was shot. There are three
resting places for royalty. The Habsburgs lie in the Imperial
Crypt at the Kapuzinerkirche on Neuer Markt, while their
hearts are in the Augustinerkirche and their organs in the crypt
at Stephansdom. If you happen to enter the Stephansdom
subway station, look for the lovely Romanesque Virgilkapelle
(Chapel of Saint Virgil) that was unearthed when work started
on the subway line.
If you prefer museums with a light-hearted theme, Vienna
has an eclectic array: the Teddy Bear Museum, Circus and
Clown Museum, Doll and Toy Museum, Clock Museum and
Globe Museum. You can also visit the Fiaker Museum (Fiaker
are horse-drawn carriages that make their way slowly throughFor a more macabre look at
Vienna, visit the Funeral Museum,
or learn the history of torture in
the Museum of Medieval Legal
History.