Vienna is the high society, more updated version of Prague. While the attention to architecture is great, Vienna no longer shows signs of the gothic movement (with the exception of St. Stephens Cathedral). Instead, government and other historical buildings have been given carved and gilded marble facades. These pure and pristine exteriors give Vienna an aristocratic feel. Because of this, you can expect the prices of things to be much higher here than the rest of Central Europe.
In addition to the fancy facades and marble statues, the museums of Vienna also contribute to this high class feel. The museums quarter is a large complex which houses rotating galleries as well as permanent exhibitions. The two staples of this area are the Natural History Museum and the Fine Arts Museum. The Natural History Museum does an excellent job at documenting history from the Big Bang up until today. In here, one will find dinosaur bones, fossils, meteorites, taxidermy animals, and some of the most significant artifacts which pertain to the human existence. Across the grand courtyard is the fine arts museum. It is most popularly compared to Paris’s Louvre, this museum boasts an impressive collection of Egyptian artifacts. Room after room is filled with mummies, sarcophaguses, and stone carvings. All of which are in amazing condition. While I would agree that the ancient art exhibitions rival that of the Louvre’s, Vienna’s Fine Arts Museum cannot compare in the actual paintings department. While Vienna does house a good assortment of Renaissance and religious art from Western Europe, it just simply cannot compare to the size of the Louvre. However, what I found more interesting about Vienna’s museum is that rather than showcase the greats: Rafael, Da Vinci, or Michael Angleo they give other great artists a chance to be showcased and appreciated. The paintings portion of this museum is divided into two sections: French, Italian, and Spanish artists in one half and German, Danish, and Austrian artists in the other half; all of which are of the renaissance period.
Even though the majority of Vienna’s museums can be found within the Museums Quarter, there are more than a handful scattered all over the city; my favorite of these being the Schatzkrammer Museum. Located in the Hafsburg Palace, the Schatzkrammer displays the royal family’s most prized possessions. Here, we were able to see the three imperial crown jewels of the Hafsburg monarchy, the cradle which Napoleon had commissioned for his children, a thorn from Christ’s crown of thorns, a nail from Christ’s cross, and what the family believed to be the holy grail, an agate bowl. The museum is small and does not take a long time to walk through, but it is definitely worth the visit.
From the treasures of the monarchy we made our way to over to the Military History. Here, about 400 years of Austrian Military history is documented and is on display. Everything from wartime paintings to suits of armor can be found here. Our favorite rooms of the museum were the ones which dealt with WWI. These rooms displayed arms, rounds, and the uniforms which were used by the Austrian forces. The best exhibition within these rooms was the one dedicated to Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Here, we were able to see the car in which he was executed in. It has not been changed since the incident and we could clearly see the bullet hole which killed his wife Sofie as well as the damage from a previously unsuccessful grenade attack. Also on display is the uniform the archduke was wearing at the time of his assassination. You can see where the fatal bullet entered as well as the blood stains which the uniform incurred due to the gunshot. It was definitely surreal standing next to the things which started the First World War.
The last museum we ventured to was the Schobrunn Palace. Built to be the summer residence for the Hafsburg monarchy, Schobrunn palace used to be located outside city limits. Home to ornate rooms, meticulously kept gardens, and Europe’s largest greenhouse Schobrunn Palace will paint a pretty accurate picture for how things used to be. Here, one can tour the gardens and palace grounds for free or for a small fee one will have access to forty of the imperial rooms. These rooms have been fully restored and showcase original furniture and paintings of the Hafsburgs. During this self-guided tour one can also read up on all the juicy family history; from the favoritism that Maria Theresa showed her eldest daughter or the dissatisfaction which Empress Elizabeth expressed about her marriage, there is a lot of dirty laundry to read up on. After touring the imperial rooms, we made our way to the gardens. Since it was winter, the shrubs and trees were free of leaves but we could easily see the outlines of the patterns they would make when in bloom. We walked across the ice covered lawns and made our way to the sun house atop of a hill behind the palace. Along the way we passed the Neptune fountain which Marie Theresa built to honor her husband, Franz Josef I, after his death. The view of the palace for the sun house was astonishing. The sun was out and the yellow palace stood out easily against its snowy surroundings.
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