One side of Felderstraße has the imperious and imperial Rathaus, rich in history. The other side has the Wien Museum’s musa, which sits at the other end of the time spectrum with its contemporary (art) exhibitions.
- Exhibition space for established and new artists, as well as particular eras and themes
- Includes the Artothek art library
- What special exhibitions are on?
- Free entry
- Join a guided walking tour* of historical Vienna
- See also:
musa exhibition venue
(Sits opposite city hall)
One of the younger additions to the sites run by the Wien Museum is the musa, a small exhibition centre and cultural spot.
The larger area inside offers space for a main exhibition. This typically addresses some aspect of Viennese contemporary art, such as a solo exhibition for a particular iconic artist or a review of some genre, topic or era.
Recent exhibitions have covered, for example (just to give you a flavour), a look at Viennese street photography through the decades, the interaction between art and politics during (and after) the Nazi period in Vienna, and the life and work of architect Richard Neutra.
A smaller room hosts the Startgalerie exhibition space, designed to encourage and support new artists. Guest curatorial teams hold group exhibitions there.
The Artothek
If you’re planning a longer stay in the city, then the Artothek within the musa building might pique your interest. Think of it as a lending library for contemporary art.
For a small monthly fee, you can borrow drawings, photographs, paintings and similar from the Wien Museum’s own collection to hang at home for up to 12 months.
The list of artists featured includes a few names I’ve seen in exhibitions at leading museums in Vienna.
(The Felderstraße colonnade outside the art venue)
Tickets, exhibitions & tips
Access to the musa (exhibition, Artothek & Startgalerie) is free. The main exhibitions used to be ticketed, but the Wien Museum moved to the free model in late 2024.
The musa counter also has a few items for sale: mainly exhibition catalogues, postcards, CDs, DVDs, and a handful of souvenirs.
Special exhibitions
The current schedule for the main MUSA exhibition at the time of writing is:
- Viennese Realism after 1950 (until August 17th, 2025): exhibition around the realist counter movement that tackled the reality of sociopolitics in a nascent democracy still (not) coming to terms with its recent past
Incidentally, film buffs might want to stand on the colonnade outside the musa: this was used twice as a location in the movie The Woman in Gold: once for a Nazi parade and then later for a chase scene.
How to get to the musa
The musa sits opposite the north wing of the Rathaus (city hall), so is easily reached if you’re meandering around the city centre.
Despite the central location, the premises lack any great history, largely because the land formed part of the open ground that lay in front of the city fortifications until the late 19th century.
Subway: the closest stations are Schottentor and Rathaus on the U2 line.
Tram/bus: Go two streets in practically any direction from the musa and you hit a tram stop. For example:
- The 43 and 44 lines stop at Landesgerichtsstraße
- The 1, D and 71 stop at Rathausplatz/Burgtheater
- The 2 at Rathaus
Address: Felderstraße 6-8, 1010 Vienna | Website