Kunsthistorisches Museum

Think of the Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM) as a giant chest of artistic treasures, all tied up in beautiful architectural gift wrap.

Numerous world-class works of art live inside. You probably assume we’re talking paintings. But while the picture gallery is indeed mightily impressive, it’s just one of several important collections.

• Outstanding selection of historical art
• Best areas: the paintings & Kunstkammer
• What special exhibitions are on?
• Book your KHM tickets* online
• A stop on the Hop on Hop off tours
• See also:
  • Selected past KHM exhibitions
  • Art exhibitions in Vienna

Inside the Museum

(The museum looks gorgeous at night)

The Kunsthistorisches Museum includes several self-contained sections addressing different kinds of art or eras. The best areas depend on your interests, but I particularly recommend:

• The galleries of paintings, featuring numerous works by a who’s who of western European painting pre-1800. Look, particularly, for the splendid (and world-leading) Bruegel collection

• The Kunstkammer “chamber of wonders”, full of astonishing artifacts from the past…from lavish backgammon sets to salt cellars worth the GDP of a small country (possibly)

Other areas are:

• The Egyptian Collection, containing all you might expect in your A-Z of motifs from Ancient Egypt: sarcophagi, canopic jars, scrolls, statues, and more

• The Greek and Roman Antiquities, where the clever positioning and gorgeous lighting of the displays might be considered art in their own right

• The Coin Collection, which also includes a remarkable series of mini-portrait paintings of historical personalities

• The Vermeyen Cartoons, documenting the early 16th-century Tunis campaign of Emperor Charles V

Oh, and the building itself makes a stunning impression, particularly the dome and the staircase. One of the interior decorators for the latter was a young fellow by the name of Gustav Klimt.

So, yes, the KHM has genuine Klimt wall frescoes brightening its stairwell (a word entirely inadequate to describe the magnificence and size of that feature).

All in all, then, possibly more art than you can eat in one sitting, especially if you want time to digest what you’re viewing.

Tickets, exhibitions & tips

Note that any entrance ticket for or from the KHM includes almost all temporary exhibitions. Occasional exhibitions do require their own extra timeslot ticket (available direct from the museum). This is the case for the current Rembrandt – Hoogstraten exhibition mentioned below.

Special exhibitions

The Kunsthistorisches Museum hosts a major year-end event around the theme of old masters (like Caravaggio, Titian, or Pieter Bruegel the Elder). But you’ll come across various special exhibitions throughout the year, including those covering more contemporary art.

Current main schedule:

• Rembrandt – Hoogstraten (until January 12th, 2025): the big year-end 2024 exhibition features numerous works by Rembrandt, but also by his student, Samuel van Hoogstraten. The latter enjoyed successful stays in Vienna back in the days of Emperor Ferdinand III

• Jupiter and Mercury with Philemon and Baucis (until January 12th, 2025): an intimate examination of the painting by the Rubens workshop from c. 1625/1630

• Imperial Impressions (until October 26th, 2025): medals as objects of art, along with some insight into how Imperial history saw artists shift from generalists to specialists

• Raise the Anchor! (until February 16th, 2025): small display with items recovered from Roman shipwrecks

Next up:

• The Princess of Naples (January 17th to October 5th, 2025): a closer look at the portrait of Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily

Check the exhibition listings page for wider schedules.

(View of part of the wonderful 2024 spring exhibition, Holbein. Burgkmair. Dürer. Renaissance in the North; press photo © KHM-Museumsverband)

A few further tips for your visit:

• At times, particularly during significant exhibitions, the museum ticket counters move to containers on the square outside the main entrance.

• Once through the ticket check, look up (trust me).

As mentioned, the museum building itself is rather impressive. So, actually, you should look up, down, and around everywhere as you view the collections. The entrance hall and dome quite take your breath away.

• After you get in, go left to put away coats and bags in the cloakroom, which also has coin-operated lockers. Go ahead for audioguides or right for the shop and guidebooks.

• The Kunstkammer contains a lot of accessible information via tablets and the picture galleries have plenty of English, too. Other areas have more and more English each time I visit, but you might want the English audioguide or a book.

• Alternatively, use the KHM Stories app for themed English-language tours of the collection (available for free from the iPhone and Android app stores).

• I took several hours just in the Kunstkammer, which is but one section of the building. So either you set aside plenty of time or you simply browse through the Kunsthistorisches Museum highlights (an info leaflet should identify these for you).

• The cafe/restaurant makes a remarkably grand place to drink a coffee.

• If you’re there for the paintings by old masters, consider also a couple of other destinations afterwards.
  • The picture gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, which includes Hieronymus Bosch’s The Last Judgment
  • Check the current special exhibitions at the Albertina, which may also feature older works

(The museum sits on Maria-Theresien-Platz, which has a monument to the same-named empress at its centre)

Finally, the Kunsthistorisches Museum feels like a place for hushed voices: a cathedral of art that’s not unwelcoming, but don’t expect much in the way of dumbed-down infotainment or edutainment. I have yet to see any cartoon figures encouraging us to discover the joys of Italian Baroque paintings.

Having said that, the museum has taken a more engaging narrative approach to recent exhibitions, making them easy to enjoy even without any previous knowledge.

How to get to the museum

The Kunsthistorisches Museum sits opposite its twin – the Natural History Museum – on the square named in honour of Empress Maria Theresa.

The two buildings look almost identical, both completed in the late 1800s as part of Emperor Franz Joseph’s expansive plans for the Ring.

If you get the museums mixed up, you may find yourself standing in front of a stuffed wildebeest debating how the artist uses the piece to question the true nature of human existence. But it’s actually just a stuffed wildebeest.

The well-worn walking routes around Vienna’s centre likely take you past. If traveling by public transport, then…

Subway: U2 or U3 to Volkstheater and a short walk

Tram: 1, D, 71, 46, 49 or 2 to Ring/Volkstheater or the 1, 2, 71 and D to Burgring

Bus: 48A to Ring/Volkstheater or the 57A to Burgring

Address: Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna | Website