Page 88 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Austria

86  VIENNA AREA B Y AREA

the world in the wake of Steven on the escarpment behind the
Spielberg’s hugely popular film old town fortifica tions. In 1921,
Jurassic Park. these Baroque buildings became
In the square between the a venue for fairs, and in the
buildings stands an imposing 1980s they were conver ted into
monument of Maria Theresa a museum complex to designs
(1888) by Kaspar von Zumbusch. by Laurids and Manfred Ortner.
It shows the empress clasping They changed the fittings of
the Pragmatic Section of 1713, the existing structures and
The dinosaur room in the enabling women to ascend to added new ones, resulting in
Natur historisches Museum the throne. Below her are her one of the world’s largest
generals and her principal cultural centres.
t Naturhistorisches nobles and advisors. The MuseumsQuartier
Museum (Museum District) includes the
y Kunsthistorisches Kunsthalle Wien (Vienna Art
Burgring 7. Map 2 A5. Tel 52 177-0. Hall) opposite the main entrance,
% Volkstheater. v 1, 2, 46, 49, 71, D. Museum behind the former premises
@ 48A. Open 9am–6:30pm Thu– See pp88–91. of the Spanish Riding School.
Mon, 9am–9pm Wed. Closed Tue, Vienna’s main showcase for
1 Jan, 1 May, 1 Nov, 25 Dec. & 7
∑ nhm-wien.ac.at international contemporary art,
u MuseumsQuartier the Kunsthalle is one of the city’s
On two sides of Maria-Theresien- Museumsplatz 1. Map 1 C5. Tel 52 35 most important art spaces,
Platz are two identical buildings, 881. % MuseumsQuartier, Volks- focusing on transdisci plinary
designed by Gottfried Semper theater. v 1, 2, 46, 49, 71, D. @ 48A. work including photo graphy,
and Karl von Hasenauer. They Information: Open 10am–7pm daily. video, film and new media, as
were both built as museums ∑ mqpoint.at. Museum of Modern well as modern-art retrospectives.
at the time of Franz Joseph I, as Art: Tel 525 000. Open 2–7pm Mon, To the left of the Kunsthalle
part of the Ringstrasse develop- 10am–7pm Tue–Sun (to 9pm Thu). is the white limestone façade
ment. Today, one is an art & ∑ mumok.at Leopold Museum: of the Leopold Museum, which
museum (Kunsthistorisches Tel 525 70. Open 10am–6pm daily (to houses the art collection of
Museum, see pp88–91), the 9pm Thu). Closed Tue, public holidays. Rudolph Leopold. This encom-
other the Natural History & ∑ leopoldmuseum.org passes over 5,000 works of art,
Museum, home to one of the Kunsthalle Wien: Tel 5521 890. Open including major pieces by
richest and most wide-ranging 10am–7pm Mon–Sat (to 9pm Thu). Gustav Klimt, together with
& 7 ∑ kunsthallewien.at
collections in the world. the world’s largest Egon
Many exhibits originally Schiele collection.
belonged to Maria Theresa’s Johann Bernhard Fischer The Museum of Modern Art
husband, Francis Stephen of von Erlach was Ludwig Foundation Vienna,
Lorraine. The present permanent commissioned or MUMOK, to the right of the
exhibition occupies two floors by Emperor Karl VI Kunsthalle, is clad in contrast-
and consists of archaeological to build the ing dark basalt. It contains
and anthropological displays, imperial stables one of the largest European
reconstructed specimens of collec tions of modern art,
extinct animals and one of from American Pop to Cubism,
the best gem collections in Expressionism and Viennese
the world. Actionism, as well as contem-
Among the key exhibits porary art from Central and
are the Hallstatt archaeol- Eastern Europe.
ogical finds, dating from the The Architektur Zentrum
early Iron Age, and the famous Wien is a venue for interesting
Venus of Willendorf – a temporary exhibi tions of modern
25,000-year-old stone statuette architecture and architectural
of a woman. The life-sized history. Its permanent exhibi tion
replicas of dinosaur skeletons features 20th-century Austrian
in the Dinosaur Hall are also a architecture.
major attraction. The Tanzquartier Wien is
The Natural History Museum dedicated to dance, providing
plays a very important role facilities and training to perfor-
within the education system mers and choreographers, and
and its temporary exhibitions presenting various types of dance
are organized mainly with and other performances to the
schools in mind. Its exhibition public. The MuseumsQuartier
showing the imaginary life Rossbändiger (1892), the tamer of horses, also has archives and facilities
of dinosaurs toured much of near the MuseumsQuartier for lectures, workshops and
For hotels and restaurants in this area see p293 and pp312–13

086-087_EW_Austria.indd 86 12/09/17 3:02 pm