I love going to museums and was really looking forward to the Dom Museum Vienna. Right next to St. Stephen’s Cathedral is Austria’s most important museum for historical sacred art and I was really excited to see everything.
Since 1973, the Dom Museum Vienna has been located in the rooms of the former apartment of the cathedral provost in the Zwettlerhof on Stephansplatz. This was associated with a reorganization of the content, which now no longer presents exhibits in chronological order.
From the entrance hall, a spiral staircase leads to the first floor of the building and you stand directly in the exhibition rooms.
Special exhibition: Show me your wound
First I enter the special exhibition at the Dom Museum Vienna. “Show me your wound” is a theme that is still very topical today. I can expect pictures, sculptures, video installations by different artists. Wounds are depicted in very different ways in the background of the Christian pictorial tradition. I discover very old works, but also interesting new interpretations of the theme.
I like the special exhibition very much. Some sculptures appealed to me very much and I thought about them for a while.
Otto Wall Collection
Otto Mauer was a cathedral preacher at St. Stephen’s and founded the Gallery for Contemporary Art in 1954. The Viennese avant-garde quickly met here. The museum presents some of the art objects in a separate room.
His art collection includes many works of the Viennese post-war avant-garde (e.g. works by Oswald Oberhuber, Maria Lassnig) and prints by artists such as Chagall, Kubin and Picasso.
After Mauer’s death, the collection was left to the Dom Museum Vienna.
I honestly didn’t expect to see this type of art in the museum. I liked the exhibits, even though I was more curious about the third area of the museum.
Cathedral treasures collection
The collection of medieval cathedral treasures of St. Stephen is what I actually expected to find in this museum. This is also where I spent the longest time. There was a lot to discover, for example a beautiful triptych (Lombard) from the 15th century, a St. Andrew’s cross from 1440 and an imposing bishop’s crook from 1515. Hereditary Duke Rudolf IV was the donor of the objects (1339 – 1365) and his portrait is also one of the most valuable pieces in the collection.
I was most impressed by this section of the Dom Museum Vienna. I like the medieval art direction very much. The intricacies of the scupltures, the figurative representations on paintings and if you look closely you always discover interesting details. Really beautiful art objects that you can see here.
Dom Museum Vienna App
Those who would like to learn more about the individual, exhibits of the museum in Vienna should download the free Dom Museum Vienna app from the AppStore or Google Play. Several languages are offered: German, English, French, Italian, Russian, Spanish and Austrian Sign Language ÖGS.
The visitor is guided through the exhibition with the help of the media guide. Audio clips and videos are the ideal complement to the information provided directly at the exhibits.
If you prefer to rent an audio guide, you can of course do so on site for €3.50 per person per day.
Address:
Dom Museum Vienna
Stephansplatz 6,
1010 Vienna
Directions:
Metro U1, U3
Bus: 1A, 2A, 3A
Station Stephansplatz
Car: Parking possibilities in the parking garage “Parkhaus City” directly in front of the Dom Museum Wien
Opening hours:
Wednesday – Sunday: 10 – 18 h
Thursday 10 – 20 h
Monday, Tuesday, public holidays closed
Admission fees:
Adults: 8,-€
Discounts are offered.
I was allowed to visit the Dom Museum Vienna free of charge. My report was written independently and represents exclusively my impressions.
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