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 | Vienna Things To Do | Tips 1 - 10 of 3361 |  |
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As one of the most important art museums of Europe the "Kunsthistorisches Museum" has no specific site on the Vienna "things to do" I will join my comment on the KHM to the Hofburg site as it is located in one of the imperial palaces close to that Hofburg. The gallery of paintings of the Kunsthistorisches Museum results from the project of a private imperial collection and is the reflection of the taste of the various member collectors of the dynasty of Habsburg, mainly the emperor Rodolphe II and the archdukes Ferdinand II and Leopold Guillaume. This archduke is the greatest paint collector of his 17th century. Thanks to him the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Vienna became a museum of an essential importance as regards the Flemish and Venetian Schools. One will notice that this collection is geographically limited to the countries which had narrow links with the Habsburg i.e. Germany, the South of Netherlands (Belgium) the North of Italy and Spain but that France and Holland, with whom Austria had tense relations, are only weakly represented. It would be vain to review the painters and the works of this grand collection of the 15th to the 18th centuries. The collection of Pieter Bruegel the Elder is unequalled and is worth by itself the journey to Vienna. Furthermore there are Van der Weyden, Dürer, Jordaens, Rubens, Van Dyck, Titien, Tintoret, Veronese, Canaleto, Velasquez and many others. One of my favourite paintings, besides the Bruegels, is the" Allegorie of Painting" of Vermeer who was acquired in 1945. I find extraordinary that sixty years ago one could still buy a Vermeer! Address: Maria-Theresien Platz 5,Directions: close to the Neue Burg and Hofburg.Website: www.khm.at
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| | | | Hofburg: Hofburg - Kunsthistorisches Museum - P. Bruegel | Tip Rating: | | | | |
For all amateurs of Pieter Bruegel the Elder the room X of the Paint gallery at the KHM, located in one of the imperial palaces near the Hofburg, is an absolute must. The museum has 14 paintings of P. Bruegel the Elder, i.e. the third of his paintings known about the world! Among these 14 some of the most remarkable as The Tower of Babel, The Fight of Carnival and Lent, the Peasants Dance, The Peasant Wedding and especially the most beautiful, the purest, the most intense of the works of P. Bruegel " Hunters in the Snow" To go to Vienna without having seen Bruegel it is as going to Paris without seeing La Joconde in Le Louvre. But contrary to the room of the Louvre with Mona Lisa, visitors are not bumping into each other in room X of the KHM of Vienna. A relation having visited the KHM asked me (it was the time of the action in justice against the Austrian State about the Klimt's) if Belgium, which has only six P. Bruegel the Elder, did not wish the return of the Bruegel's to Brussels where the painter lived and died (1569). I would certainly like to see more Bruegel's in the Museum of the Fine Arts in Brussels but these paintings were offered by the city of Antwerp to the archduke Ernest in 1594, the others were bought in total legality. Furthermore if Belgium began demanding the return of all the works of the Flemish painters worldwide she would not have enough walls to hang them on and numerous museums in the world would have empty rooms. And last but not least, numerous persons worldwide know Belgium only by her painters. Let the Bruegel's stays in Vienna, it is a pleasure to see them in a beautiful surrounding such as the KHM and the town of Vienna. Address: Maria-Theresien Platz 5,Directions: Near the Neue Burg and Hofburg.Website: www.khm.at
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| | | | Academy of the Fine Arts - Gallery of Paintings | Tip Rating: | | | | |
The gallery of paintings of the Academy of the Fine arts of Vienna is essentially visited for its famous altar triptych of the "Last Judgment" by Hieronymus (Jerome) Bosch. This work of 1504 belonged to the archduke Leopold of Austria and became part of the collection of the count Lamberg, founder of this museum. The wings of the triptych open to reveal, from left to right, "Original Sin", "The Last Judgement" and "Hell". Bosch’s pictures have always fascinated viewers; Philip II, king of Spain, collected his works. If in his time Bosch was regarded as the inventor of monsters and chimeras, today his paintings still hold as an intriguing attraction reflecting mysterious practices of the Middle Ages. I was surprised during my last visit at the Prado museum of Madrid to notice that guides stopped their groups in front of the other famous triptych of J. Bosch " The Garden of the Delights " to explain at length its symbolism, while in previous years they would spend more time on Velazquez and other painters of the Spanish school. Jerome Bosch seems a rising star in the world of the fans of the esotericism, the mysteries and the sects. Should we see here a collateral effect of the "Da Vinci Code" esoteric passion? Really, there is nothing esoteric in the gallery of the paintings of the Academy of Vienna. This museum is - still - very quiet and has few visitors. It is a pity because it contains a number of other masterpieces. In front of the Bosch triptych is a magnificent painting of Dieric Bouts "The Coronation of the Virgin". The museum also has beautiful sections of paintings of the German school with Cranach, the Italians, the Flemish baroque with Rubens and a collection of Dutch painters with a magnificent Pieter de Hooch "Family picture in a courtyard in Delft" and a portrait by Rembrandt. The amateurs of Venice will find eight views "veduti" by Guardi. Open 10 to 18 h. Closed on Monday. Entry 7 €, Reduced price 4 € Address: Akademie der bildenden Künste 1, Schillerplatz 3Directions: U, Tram, Bus: KarlsplatzWebsite: www.akademiegalerie.at
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| | | | Karlskirche & Karlsplatz: another church-visit: Karlskirche | Tip Rating:  | | | | |
I grew up in Vienna, but never actually visited the Karlskirche until last year, when Ash, my mom, and I decided to see it close-up (she had lived in Vienna for about 40 years and hadn't seen it either!). The church is Vienna's most famous baroque building, and with it's big green cuppola has become one of the city's landmarks. If you have a chance to go there, make sure to take a close look at the tall white stone pillars outside the church and the scenes delicately engraved on them. Once you enter, the almost overbearlingly huge altar draws you to the front of the church immediately. You can pay an extra couple of Euros to take the elevator ride up to the top of the cuppola to get a closer look at the Michael Rottmeyr frescos. But that's not the end of it - from here on you can venture up to the very top of the church via stairs. Poor Ashie didn't know what he was in for - I suffered from extreme vertigo, and my mother wasn't physically too fit to handle those stairs (yet insisted to make her way up to the top). :-) Opening hours: 9.00-12.30pm and 1.00-6.00pm (Mo - Sat) 1.00-6.00pm (Sun + holidays) Leave a Comment Address: Vienna's famous baroque churchDirections: take underground, tram, busses, or taxi to "Karlsplatz"-station.Website: www.karlskirche.at
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| | | | Oper / Staatsoper: Opern-toilette & Toilet-Bar | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Opern-Toilette is a funny place, right under the Opera. It was constructed some years ago and recently the so-called "Toilet-Bar" was added. It is a pissoir, designed by the artist Rudolf Scheffel and includes a Jazz-piano and 4 hungry lips, waiting untill you p*ss off.... Just Imagine, you walk through the lovely centre of Vienna, and get the idea or need, you want to powder your nose or to talk to a man about a horse... There is a place, where you may do that in the apropriate way, you certainly expect to, in the metropole of classical music and good taste ! Ladies go ahead, through the big stage' curtain ! Gents go to the right please ! There is a small entrance fee of 60 cents to be paid into a machine at the entrance. And believe me : It's worth every cent ! I don't know much about the ladies tones, when they powder their noses, but at the men's department strange tones are not unusual while talking to a man about a horse or a dog ! ...and therefore Opera-music is played there in order to get a more cultural "touch" into any discussion about horses... Just imagine - Luciano Pavarotti is singing TOSCA in the real Opera high above you, while you may talk to a man about a horse... and you may sit in one of these well-furnished boxes and may go to the John and nobody could blame you for that !!! Just try to do the same in the real Opera's boxes and you will see what happens ... Leave a Comment Address: Under Ringstrasse, next to the OperaDirections: Opern-Toilette is just below the Opera. You simply take the rolling-stairs from the opera under the Ringstrasse and will have Opern-Toilette to your right. It is open untill midnight !!
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| | | | Kunsthistorisches Museum - Gallery of Paintings | Tip Rating: | | | | |
The gallery of paintings of the Kunsthistorisches Museum results from the project of a private imperial collection and is the reflection of the taste of the various member collectors of the dynasty of Habsburg, mainly the emperor Rodolphe II and the archdukes Ferdinand II and Leopold Guillaume. This archduke is the greatest paint collector of his 17th century. Thanks to him the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Vienna became a museum of an essential importance as regards the Flemish and Venetian Schools. One will notice that this collection is geographically limited to the countries which had narrow links with the Habsburg i.e. Germany, the South of Netherlands (Belgium) the North of Italy and Spain but that France and Holland, with whom Austria had tense relations, are only weakly represented. It would be vain to review the painters and the works of this grand collection of the 15th to the 18th centuries. The collection of Pieter Bruegel the Elder is unequalled and is worth by itself the journey to Vienna. Furthermore there are Van der Weyden, Dürer, Jordaens, Rubens, Van Dyck, Titien, Tintoret, Veronese, Canaleto, Velasquez and many others. One of my favourite paintings, besides the Bruegels, is the" Alegorie of Painting" of Vermeer who was acquired in 1945. I find extraordinary that sixty years ago one could still buy a Vermeer! Address: Maria TheresienplatzWebsite: www.khm.at
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on October 11, 2007
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