186 CultureShock! Austria
Vienna
Vienna has so many museums that once you have taken in
every permanent collection, the temporary exhibits will still
keep you occupied. Vienna’s most famous museums are the
Kunsthistorisches (Art History) Museum and Naturhistorisches
(Natural History) Museum. The former has one of the best
collections of 16th and 17th century art by masters such as
Brueghel, Rubens, Velázquez, Titian, Dürer, Rembrandt, Van
Dyck and Cranach. It also has an Egyptian and Near Eastern
Collection, Greek and Roman Antiquities, and Sculpture and
Decorative Arts. Do not try to see the entire museum in
one day, but rather pick a section and stroll through it at a
leisurely pace, then enjoy a coffee afterwards at the famous
Museum Café.
The Naturhistorisches Museum, which faces the
Kunsthistorisches Museum across the Maria Theresa Plaza,
is best known for the Venus of Willendorf, a small statue of
a woman representing fertility dating from 20,000–30,000
BC found in the Wachau region of Austria.A Night of Museums
ORF Long Night of Museums is a wonderful cultural evening in
Vienna and many other states of Austria. Vienna’s museums open
from 6:00 pm until 1:00 am. These wonderful exhibitions and
special events take place in museums all over at the same time
and on the same night. A great opportunity to visit more than 650
museums in Austria with one ticket only. The route of a hop-on-
hop-off bus service connects the various places of interest.Across from these two museums is the new Museum
Quartier, which houses many different museums, including
a children’s hands-on museum, the ‘Zoom Museum’. This
great museum has an arts and crafts room, a permanent
ocean area and a rotating exhibit. A second museum, the
Leopold Museum, has impressionist art on display. The
third museum is the Modern Art Museum (MUMOK). The
complex also includes a large theatre that stages all kinds of
performances: modern ballet, musicals, international revues,