Where better to have a museum about Mozart than inside the house he lived in? The Mozarthaus has insights into the man, his music, and the Vienna of his times.
- Focus on Mozart’s Vienna years
- Also features his original apartment
- Entrance includes an excellent audioguide
- Special exhibition:
- Book Mozarthaus tickets* online
- See also:
- Mozart location guide for Vienna
Worth a visit?
(Mozart lived here!)
The Mozarthaus sits right in the city centre in a historic quarter largely untouched by the passage of time (if you ignore the parking signs). The building is a townhouse restored to its 18th-century grandeur.
The museum essentially invites you on a gentle stroll through a late 1700s world of music and society, providing little vignettes of information and items from the past (some original, others copies).
Part 1: Mozart and Vienna
You begin on the third floor, which looks at Mozart and Vienna.
So you learn about the city in the 1780s, Mozart’s relationships with the aristocracy, his Freemasonry, and other such topics.
The paintings and maps of Vienna offer an intriguing and beautiful contrast to today’s large metropolis. I also smiled at the copy of Mozart’s application to be a conductor at St. Stephen’s Cathedral. You just can’t imagine that would have gone well.
This floor is also where you’ll find a temporary exhibition:
- Current/next exhibition
- Cherubino alla vittoria! (on the musical background to the Non più andrai aria)
- Recent exhibitions
Part 2: Mozart and music
Then you move down to the second floor, which focuses on Mozart’s music, particularly the operas.
Here you get the sense that Vienna acted like a Hollywood for musicians, attracting talent from around the continent: various ambitious individuals seeking fame and fortune in the broiling musical air of the Habsburg city.
You discover some of Mozart’s contemporaries, including Christoph Willibald Gluck and the not-nearly-as-infamous-as-people-believe Salieri.
You also learn about the creation of some of Mozart’s famous operas, his cooperation with librettist du Ponte, and the stories and myths surrounding the Requiem.
This floor includes a delightful video installation displaying excerpts from seven different modern-day performances of The Marriage of Figaro, all running concurrently.
(The entrance)
Part 3: The Apartment
Finally, you have the Mozartwohnung; Mozart’s actual former apartment home makes up a self-contained area on the first floor which takes a more personal approach to his life and work (follow the link for more details).
You won’t come out of the Mozarthaus an expert, but you emerge with a better understanding of Mozart the man, businessman, and composer. And you gain an appreciation of the times and musical context he lived in.
Most importantly, you’re breathing the very air that Mozart breathed over 200 years ago.
For example, if you climb the stairs, you find yourself using the same handrail and following in the literal footsteps of possibly the world’s greatest ever musician.
That alone seems a good reason to visit.
Tickets and tips
A Mozarthaus ticket from the venue or elsewhere gets you into both the Mozarthaus and the Mozartwohnung. These are technically run by two separate entities, but you won’t notice.
(Booking service provided by Tiqets.com*, who I am an affiliate of)
A few visitor tips:
- Be sure to use the audioguide that comes free with your ticket.
The guide comes in various languages, features snippets of music, and includes quotes read out by voice actors. Look for the numbers to key into the handset up on the walls, where you also find details of the pieces playing on the guide.
- As you go between floors, take time to admire the beautiful atrium
- The shop is chock full of Mozart-themed souvenirs, CDs, postcards, t-shirts etc. If you wish to learn more about Mozart in Vienna, try the aptly-titled Mozart in Vienna book (or this online guide)
- The ground floor had a small self-service café area on my visit with snack and coffee machines and a few seats: a good source for a quick and cheap coffee, but obviously without the ambience of a typical coffee house (try Café Diglas for the latter, about 50m away on Wollzeile)
- The Mozarthaus puts on occasional concerts in the Bösendorfer-Saal, a vaulted chamber below the house itself. The weekly Mozart piano recitals in summer are a visitor favourite
- Many classical concerts in Vienna incorporate historical locations and the music of Mozart and Strauss. These are often specifically designed for visitors. The musicians may also be in period clothes (and sometimes use period instruments)
- Another nearby Mozart tip is Mythos Mozart, which offers a quite remarkable immersive audiovisual experience: from a candlelit Requiem to AI projections
How to get to the Mozarthaus
The museum is tucked away just a street or two behind the cathedral that dominates the historic city centre.
Subway: It’s just a hop, skip and a short ride on a magic flute from the Stephansplatz station on the U1 and U3 lines
Bus: Take the old town lines 1A, 2A or 3A to the Stephansplatz stop.
Address: Domgasse 5, 1010 Vienna | Website