The city at a glance

If you’re looking to get away from the city’s summer heat but aren’t interested in one of the open-air baths or swimming pools, you can cool off in one of Vienna’s many museums while filling up on culture. At the Wien Museum you can take off and explore  “Bird’s Eye Vienna”. Images and maps of the city from centuries past and current views are as much on display as a view of the future of the city.

Eduard Fischer-Graphip model of the City center with Glacis-1852-1854 © Wien Museum

Capturing Vienna as a whole and visually and pictorially coming to grips with the growing city is fascinating and has occupied people for centuries in the form of classic panoramas, bird’s eye views, sculptures, woodcarvings or diagrams. The question of completeness and fragmentation, of orientation and control always comes up. What does one make visible and what remains concealed? Depictions never represent the “real” territory of the whole but are instead a model, image or vision of the city.

In the exhibition, not only the oldest, largest or most famous diagrams, panoramas and models of Vienna are on display, there are also rare thematic maps or artistic variants and design products all the way to attempts to apply “mapping the city” to the needs of underprivileged groups.

Niklas Meldeman-Round view of Vienna during the 1st Turk leaguer _1529-1530 © Wien Museum

Moreover, traditional and new vantage points of the city are illuminated – from Stephansturm (St. Stephan’s Tower) and Kahlenberg all the way to the present-day Hochhaus (high-rise). The exhibition should encourage visitors to see the city from other perspectives and to place themselves actively in its presentation.

TIP 1: The other exhibitions in Wien Museum are also well worth seeing. Stroll through the various rooms, from the permanent exhibition on the history of Vienna to the current special exhibitions, all the way to the comprehensively stocked shop – there’s always a lot to discover here.

Das Schick-Panoramic view (c) Schick Hotels

TIP 2: You can also enjoy a fantastic view of Vienna from the Schick Hotel Am Parkring in the Gartenbauhochhaus and from the 2-toque Gault & Millau-rated restaurant “Das Schick” on the 12th floor, where you’ll also be regaled with the finest Austrian-Spanish specialties.

With a “vista” on enjoyment.

Wien Museum Karlsplatz
1040 Vienna, Karlsplatz 8

Through September 17, 2017
Every Tuesday through Sunday, as well as holidays, from 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Admission fees:
Full price: € 10.00 per person
Children and youth under 19 years of age – free admission
The first Sunday of every month for all visitors – free admission
Participation in public tours for all visitors (according to availability) – free

For more information, click HERE.

Data and image sources: © Wien Museum.