*) can also be visited with the combined ticket “Schönbrunn Gold
Pass”.
The Imperial Furniture Collection • Vienna Furniture Museum
Andreasgasse 7
1070 Wien
www.hofmobiliendepot.at
info@hofmobiliendepot.at
Tel: +43-1-524 33 57-0
Fax: +43-1-524 33 57-666
Opening hours: Tue – Sun 10 am – 6 pm
The museum is wheelchair-accessible.
How to get there:
Located just off bustling Mariahilfer Strasse, the museum offers you a comprehensive
tour of the interiors and furniture of past centuries. Completely redesigned
in the 1990s, the museum is ideal for combining shopping and culture, lying
directly on the orange underground line U3 (alight at Zieglergasse, take
the Andreasgasse exit).
The Museum:
The museum is a rarity among Vienna's sights and an insider's tip. Visitors
should allow at least an hour in order to view the approximately 4,000
exhibits on the museum's four floors. The objects displayed range from
items of furniture used by all the Austrian emperors since Charles VI (the
father of Maria Theresa), furniture by the Thonet Brothers to Jugendstil,
the Viennese Modernist movement and contemporary Austrian architects and
designers such as E.A. Plischke, Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Luigi
Blau and Franz West. The museum will open a new permanent exhibition of
the furniture of the Empress Sisi as well as the film legend Sissi end
of July.
The Imperial Furniture Collection is a "paradise for lovers of furniture
and people with a professional interest in interior design". The museum
has one of the largest collections of furniture worldwide. On display is
furniture from five centuries: Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, the Josephine
Age, Empire, Biedermeier, Historicism, Jugendstil and the Viennese Modernist
movement. The major part of the exhibits derives from the holdings of the
imperial court furniture depository founded by Maria Theresa.
The complex embraces the museum, restoration workshops and the offices of
the Federal Furniture Administration, which is still responsible for the
location and deployment of the furniture. The storerooms house furniture
and fittings used on state occasions such as the red carpet rolled out whenever
a foreign head of state pays an official visit to Austria, or the large numbers
of red, white and gold chairs used at state receptions.
Visitors can dip into the history of furniture, interior design, developments
in craftsmanship and technological changes, sit on original Biedermeier chairs
and discover how the Habsburgs really lived: you'll find the Baroque gaming
table used by Charles VI, eight chairs personally embroidered by Empress
Maria Theresa and her daughters, the canaries named Biberl and Büberl
and the gardening tools owned by Emperor Franz (II) I, the cot slept in by
the children of Emperor Franz Joseph and Sisi, the 'escape cupboard' (a secret
door camouflaged as a wardrobe) of the heir to the throne, Archduke Franz
Ferdinand, the furniture from the office of the last emperor of Austria,
Karl I, and much, much more besides…. A visit to the Imperial Furniture
Collection (like the Imperial Silver Collection) is the perfect complement
to a tour of Schönbrunn Palace and the other Habsburg residences, especially
as the wealth of exhibits displayed here conveys a vivid impression of the
differing tastes of the Austrian monarchs over the ages.
Besides these historic pieces, there are also alcoves furnished as typical
interiors to convey an impression of the atmosphere of Biedermeier lifestyle.
The museum contains 15 of these Biedermeier alcoves, three Empire alcoves
and three alcoves furnished in the Historicist style.
Besides the permanent furniture collection the museum also hosts two to three
temporary special exhibitions on furniture design and photography each year.
Information on the current special exhibitions can be found at www.hofmobiliendepot.at
(exhibitions).
The shady interior courtyard provides welcome relaxation, especially in summer.
And if after - or even while - looking at all that imperial furniture you
start to hanker after imperial cuisine – then why not pay a visit to
the Restaurant “Zum kaiserlichen Thron” (Imperial Throne Restaurant)
run by master chefs Zhang & Deng. Their fine Sechzuan cuisine has been
deemed worthy of one of the sought-after stars awarded by top gourmet restaurant
guide Gault Millaut. But you can also take a seat in an original café interior
from the 1950s and simply enjoy a cup of coffee or tea.
Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum and Imperial Silver Collection in
the Vienna Hofburg
Hofburg – Michaelerkuppel
A-1010 Wien
Entrance: Michaelerkuppel (exit: Ballhausplatz)
www.hofburg-wien.at
info@hofburg-wien.at
Tel.: +43-1-533 75 70
Fax: +43-1-533 75 70-33
Opening hours: daily from 9 am to 5 pm (July and August:
9 am to 5.30 pm)
The museums are wheelchair-accessible.
The Hofburg, former residence of the Habsburgs, is located at the heart of
Vienna and houses several museums, cultural institutions and state offices,
including the offices of the Federal President of Austria.
How to get there:
On foot from the 1st district; the nearest underground station is U3 Herrengasse;
tram: Lines 1, 2, D, J, alight at Burgring; bus: Lines 2A or 3A, alight
at Hofburg.
By purchasing just one ticket you can visit three different museums. The
best way to begin your tour is with the Imperial Silver Collection on the
ground floor. Afterwards the Emperor's Stairway takes you up to the Sisi
Museum which leads into the Imperial Apartments with the private suites of
Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth.
The entrance to the museums is directly under the Michaelerkuppel (the large
dome over the entrance to the Hofburg opposite the end of the Kohlmarkt)
and the exit is on Ballhausplatz (opposite the Federal Chancellery), which
means that coats and bags cannot be left at a cloakroom or in a locker (we
suggest you bring only light bags with you and postpone your visit to the
museum shop until after your tour!). There are two shops at visitors' disposal:
one on the ground floor and the other at the end of the tour.
Café Hofburg is also on the ground floor and can be visited during
your tour – the ideal point on your tour being between the Imperial
Silver Collection and the Sisi Museum (however, you will have to return your
audio guides temporarily while you're in the café).
Audio guides are available free of charge in the following languages:
German, English, Italian, French, Spanish, Japanese, Czech and Hungarian.
They can be obtained from the desk immediately beside the entrance to the
Imperial Silver Collection.
Imperial Apartments:
The Vienna Hofburg was the residence of the Habsburgs for over 600 years.
The original medieval fortress was rebuilt several times and extended into
a truly impressive complex of buildings embracing 18 wings and almost 2,600
rooms. Today 19 rooms in the former apartments of Emperor Franz Joseph and
Empress Elisabeth are open to the public. Emperor Franz Joseph occupied his
apartments from 1857 to his death in 1916.
Here the visitor enters the private sphere of the monarch's life. Franz Joseph
regarded himself as the foremost official of state; his suite is sparsely
furnished for an emperor and reflects his innate modesty of character.
Painstaking research and an active acquisitions programme mean that numerous
personal objects are exhibited, conveying an authentic impression of the
imperial couple's everyday life. In Franz Joseph's study is the well-known
portrait of Empress Elisabeth by Franz Xaver Winterhalter depicting Sisi
wearing her famous hair loose, one of the emperor's favourite portraits of
his wife.
In the apartments of the empress, after the living-cum-bedroom, the visitor
comes to the famous exercise-cum-dressing room, where the beauty-conscious
empress spent many hours. A set of wall-bars and gymnastic rings attest to
her love of physical exercise. Sisi was the first member of the imperial
family to have a bathroom in the modern sense installed in her suite.
The tour concludes with a festively-decked table in the dining room which
was used for family dinners.
Sisi Museum:The six rooms forming the Sisi Museum were
opened on 24 April 2004 and are intended to convey a sensitive staging of
Empress Elisabeth's personality in the historic surroundings of the Hofburg,
exploring the origins of the "Sisi myth" and illuminating the historical
personality of Elisabeth.The vicissitudes of her life and objects once owned
by the empress bring home to the visitor how a carefree young girl from Bavaria
became a restless, unapproachable and melancholic empress. The rigid constraints
of court ceremonial, her cult of her own beauty, her obsessive dieting and
reclusiveness present a stark contrast to scenes from the series of "Sissi" films
starring Romy Schneider with their image of a popularly acclaimed, selflessly
noble empress. The Sisi Museum presents a true-to-life picture far removed
from the popular clichés about the empress. Examples of Empress Elisabeth's
poetry provide the theme for each section of the museum.
Imperial Silver Collection:
This is the world's largest museum of objects associated with a courtly household.
The exhibits all derive from the former Court Table and Silver Room and convey
a vivid impression of the imperial household, court ceremonial and the culture
of dining at the Habsburg court. An astonishing range of objects has been
preserved, from utensils to decorative objects that are works of art in their
own right. On the tour you will see saucepans from the imperial kitchens,
moulds from the court confectionery, table linen from the court linen room,
glass services, silver dinner services, porcelain from the Vienna Porcelain
Manufactory as well as dinner services from the manufactories of Meissen,
Sèvres and Herend, and impressive gilt-bronze centrepieces in a variety
of styles – Gothic-Romantic, oriental or neo-Rococo. In addition there
are many personal objects once owned by individual rulers, including the
gold cutlery and cruet set belonging to Empress Maria Theresa or the silver
travelling service used by Empress Elisabeth.
Special Thanks
Fiona Rötzer
