Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna

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The "Heeresgeschichtliches Museum" is located outside the Centrum of Vienna at the Arsenal, Objekt 1 that is about 1 Km south of the Belvedere Palace-Museum. Unfortunately there is no public transport stop at the museum what may explain that there are not many visitors among the tourists.

"Heer" means Army (Land Forces) in German and Geschichte = history but the HGM is more than just a military museum showing weapons. It is quite interesting for the visitor who wants to learn something about the history of Austria over the last four centuries.

The visit starts with the upper floor with the terrible Thirty Years' War (1618–1648); the war against the Ottomans with the relief battle of Vienna in 1683 and Prince Eugene of Savoy.
Follow the reigns of Emperor Karl VI., Maria Theresa and Joseph II in the 18th c. c. and the wars against France called the Napoleonic Wars.
Then going down to the ground floor we arrive at Emperor and King (Kaiser und Köning or K & K) Franz Joseph I of the multi-ethnic state Austria-Hungary and the husband of the well known Sisi.

Much more important for Europe than Sisi was the assassination in Sarajevo in 1914 of his nephew Franz Ferdinand leading to World War I and its 15 million deaths!
Three objects dominate this hall: The automobile, in which the heir to the throne Francis Ferdinand and his spouse were shot to death, the blood-soaked uniform jacket of the Archiduke, and the chaise longue on which he died.
It is the paradox of the touristic Vienna: a lot of fuss and visitors for Sisi at the Hofburg and so few visitors for the Sarajevo room at the HGM! See my review: Start of WW I
Two halls are dedicated to WW I and are followed by one hall dedicated to the Anschluss of Austria by Nazi Germany and WW II.
Outside there is a tank collection (have you ever seen the famous Soviet T34?) See my reviewTanks exhibition
and an important gun collection.

The architecture of the museum is interesting with the much decorated hall and staircase.

Open: Every day from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Closing days: 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 May, 1 November, 25 and 31 December

Admission fees:
Regular Fee: € 5,10
Reduced Fee: € 3,30 Students, handicapped persons, Senior Citizens
Free admission on each first Sunday of the month.
Visitors until the age of nineteen have free admission.
Photo-Permission: € 1,50 (I never paid!).

To get there take the Underground/subway U1 to Station Südtirolerplatz. There is a bus the 69A that stops at 300 m (Arsenal stop) of the HGM. There are also tram lines 18, D, O on the Gürtel at 400 m of the museum. Don't forget your umbrella if it rains because the walk is on open ground.

At the building called Arsenal Objekt 1 on the Ghegastrasse there is a bar-restaurant on the right of the portico. Not bad.

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At the entrance of the Heeresgeschitliches Museum ("Heer" means Army (Land Forces) in German) you will read: "Kriege gehöre ins Museum." = Wars belong in(side) museum. That is a very wise conclusion for a museum showing four centuries of war involving Austria.

On my (third) visit to the HGM, during the first week-end of June 2012, the museum was free and there was an exhibition outside "Auf Rädern und Ketten" of armored vehicles from various origins and belonging to veteran associations, army units and even private collections.

A shock for me was to discover peacefully exposed next to each other a M47 Patton tank which equipped many of the NATO countries in the 1960s and a Soviet T55 tank which equipped our enemy of the Cold War time.
A small country like Belgium had 784 (!) of these heavy Patton M47 tanks (46 tons) with a 90 mm gun. They equipped our armored brigades stationed in Germany in the area Aachen, Köln, Soest, Siegen, and Kassel to the East-German (DDR) border
On the other side of the "Iron Curtain" they produced about 90.000 tanks of the T54/55 type (36 ton) with a 100 mm gun.
I'm glad that during my military service in Germany we never met the T54/55 in the field.
"Tanks gehöre ins Museum"!

I want to add something nasty about the Belgian tankists of my brigade. Our armored battalions were formerly Cavalry units called Guides, Lanciers, Chasseurs à Cheval. The officers of the Guides, even in the 1960s, were often noblemen very proud of their cavalry traditions and considered the infantry to which I belonged as "pousse cailloux - pushing stones" even elite regiments like the Carabiniers Cyclistes (the "Black Devils" of the battle of Halen in 1914 against the German Cavalry) who served as armored infantry battalions of the Belgian armored brigades.
I got never invited to enter a Patton tank or better have a drink at the Guides or Lancers officers mess. The funny thing is that we got invited to their mess by a German Panzer-Grenadier battalion.
Cyclists and Guides don't exist anymore but like elephants I remember all bad and good things.

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The Heeresgeschichtliches Museum draws the military history of Austria from the 16th in to the 20th century. The visit starts on the 1st floor with the wars against the Turks who besieged Vienna in 1529 and in 1683. Prince Eugene of Savoy was the victorious defender of Austria.
The Turks left in Vienna 500 bags of coffee what made of the Viennese the first Europeans to sip a cup of coffee.
Then follow the wars against the French, against the Prussians, the Napoleonic wars. Sparkling uniforms and displays of weapons fill the showcases.
We now arrive at the double monarchy Austria-Hungary illustrated by the monogram K&K (Kaiser und König) from the emperor Franz Joseph and to the room dedicated to the assassination plot of Sarajevo in June 1914.

In this room is exposed the car with a hole in the body at the level of the right back seat, and the uniform of the Archduke, the jacket of which kept traces of blood. Franz-Ferdinand died from a bleeding caused by the second bullet which touched the neck. His wife was killed immediately by the first bullet.
We so enter the tragedy of the First World War and its 15 million deaths. WW I is abundantly illustrated by weapons, equipments and documents. The dismemberment of the empire and the end of Habsburg followed the end of the war.
A republic is born, but in 1938 it is the Anschluss with Germany and the Second World War illustrated with arms, equipment, uniforms and documents.
The museum also contains a section, dedicated to the Austrian navy. An enormous model of a battleship is shown. Outside are some tanks of WW2.

Open: every day 9 - 17 h
Price (2012): 5.10 €; reduced 3,30 €.

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This long tip was written in French and separately in English at a time where VT limited the number of characters.

Le Heeresgeschichtliches Museum retrace l'histoire militaire de l'Autriche du XVIe au XX siècle.
Les salles consacrées aux guerres contre les Turcs qui firent le siège de Vienne en 1529 et en1683 mettent en avant le Prince Eugène de Savoie, pourfendeur des Turcs.
Les Turcs laissèrent comme souvenir à Vienne 500 sacs de café... ce qui vaut aux Viennois d'être les premiers Européens à siroter une tasse de café.
Guerres contres les Français, contre les Prussiens, guerres Napoléoniennes (dans des salles réaménagées), Rutilants uniformes et panoplies d'armes remplissent les vitrines d'exposition.
Nous arrivons ainsi à la double monarchie Autriche-Hongrie illustré par le monogramme K&K (Kaiser und König) de l'empereur François Joseph et à la salle consacrée à l'attentat de Sarajevo en juin 1914.
Dans cette salle est exposé la voiture décapotable avec un trou dans la carrosserie à hauteur du siège arrière droit, et l'uniforme de l'Archiduc dont la veste garde des traces de sang. Franz-Ferdinand décéda d'une hémorragie causée par la seconde balle qui a touché le cou. Son épouse fut tuée sur le coup par la première balle.
L'accès à la blessure par le médecin fut retardé du fait que l'archiduc avait l'habitude, lors de ses apparitions publiques, de faire coudre sa veste d'uniforme sur lui afin d'éviter tout faux pli. Il est possible que cette coquetterie lui a coûté la vie.
On entre ainsi dans la tragédie de la première guerre mondiale abondamment illustrée par armes, matériels et documents.
Avec la fin de cette guerre c'est le démembrement de l'empire et la fin des Habsbourg.
Naît la république, mais en 1938 c'est l'Anschluss avec l'Allemagne qui nous conduit aux salles de la seconde guerre mondiale abondamment documentées en matériel, uniformes et documents.
Le musée comporte aussi une section, consacrée à la marine où il faut absolument voir une énorme maquette d'un cuirassé. A l'extérieur se trouvent quelques chars de la seconde guère mondiale.

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Built from 1850 to 1856, the Museum of Military History is also the oldest museum in Vienna.
It traces the history of the Hapsburg Empire from the end of the 16th century, up to the dissolution of the empire after WWI in 1918 and through the Nazi period until 1945.

The museum is filled with war materials such as guns, uniforms, posters, equipment, helmets, tanks, the conning tower of a U-Boat, and the uniform that Archduke Franz Ferdinand wore when he was assasinated, complete with shrapnel holes and dried blood stains, in Serijevo, sparking WWI. The car the Archduke rode in that day is also on display.

To take pictures, you need to purchase a 1.50 euro photo pass to show the guards when asked. This can be bought at the front desk when you buy your ticket.

The museum is definitly worth the admission. If you are a history buff or if history holds an interest in your life, go see the collection.

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The Heeresgeschichtliches Museum is a military museum located in the center of the Vienna Arsenal in Landstraße (Vienna's 3rd district). The Vienna Arsenal was constructed between 1850 and 1856 at the behest of Emperor Franz Joseph I to be the new city garrison, after the old one was destroyed in the 1848 revolution. The museum, at the Arsenal's center, was part of the original design -- and was to serve as both a historical museum and a shrine to the Empire's military victories and leaders.

The museum focuses on Austrian military history from the 16th century to 1945 -- and contains one of the world's largest collections of bronze cannons. For me, the most memorable exhibit is the actual car that the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were in when they were assassinated in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914.

I found this museum to be very interesting -- and I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in history. The museum is a little difficult to find. I reached it by taking a tram to the nearby Belvedere Castle -- and walking a few blocks to the entrance. Another (perhaps easier) way to go is to take public transportation to the Südbahnhof (Vienna's Southern Station). The museum is an easy walk from the Südbahnhof.

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I’m sorry, this is another German name I couldn’t possibly pronounce, but in English this is the Museum of Military History. Opened by Emperor Franz Josef 1 in 1856, this is the oldest of Vienna’s museums and is located in the huge building complex comprising the Arsenal, in a very substantial and quite stylish fortress-castle type building (main photo). Although we found our way to the Arsenal area without difficulty on the bus, we somehow missed our stop and took some time to find our way (with the aid of passers-by) to the fairly well-concealed entrance to the Museum (this involves going through an arched gate in the outer walls, then crossing a courtyard into the “inner sanctum” through yet another arched gate (photo 2)in another substantial wall). All that was missing was the need for a password!

We were among the few visitors, apart from some school groups, and found they also give “Seniors Discount” for entry – but when I pulled out a camera, we also found that there is a charge of 1.50€ for a “photography pass”! The entry hall is quite impressive, in a slightly heavy vaulted style, with statues of former Austrian Generals. Through the display areas are some interesting and unusual exhibits, relating to military exploits from the 1600s to the present. I was intrigued by this display of World War 1 mountain troop equipment (photo 3) and also by the paintings (photo 4) made to record significant events, parades etc in the days before colour photography. There even was a section on the former Austro-Hungarian Navy and its batttleships and submarines! It wasn’t by any means “blood, guts and glory” as these places can too easily become – as shown in photo 5, there also was acknowledgement of past mistakes. This place certainly seemed to be off the main tourist circuit, but is well deserving of at least half a day’s visit.

Open daily except Fridays, 0900-1700.

Also called Das Arsenal, this is an excellent general military museum covering all apsects of the military history of Austria, all thr ay through the Habsburg dynasty into the present republic. The building is extremely ornate, being built arund 1850 theoretically as an arsenal/barracks but in reality primarily to showcase Austria's impressively grand-looking, but by then no longer very effective, military.

It is not restricted to the army and covers Austria's relatively brief period as a moderate naval power in the Mediterranean.

It also contains artifacts from the momentous 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which sprked WWI. These include the car in which he was riding and his uniform.

The War Museum in Vienna is an absolute must not just for those interested in war, but for thse interested in history in Europe.

You need to check to the details for all their displays but there is everything there, including a display about the Austrian Navy.

My 2 favourite exhibits were the Enigma coding machine used by Germany in the Second World War and the car which Arch Duke Ferdinand and his wife were assasinated in whilst visiting Sarjevo. This triggered the First World War.

I have built a travelogue of photos from the museum

The architect for the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum was Theophil Hansen, a true master of historicist pastiche. Hansen's other commissions in 19th century Vienna include the neo-Byzantine Greek Church, the neo-Renaissance Borse, the neo-Classical Parlament, the neo-Italian Akademie der bildenden Künste, and the neo-Baroque Muisverien. You have to admire someone so comfortable working in so many different styles!