Stephansplatz 6
Tel. 515 523 560
Subway: Stephansplatz
Open: 10am- 5pm Tue- Sat
Closed: 24th, 31st Dec, Easter
The Dom Museum Wien or Cathedral Museum is a museum of the Archdiocese of Vienna in Zwettlerhof next to the Archbishop's Palace on Stephansplatz 6. It contains a collection of religious art. This include 16th and 17th century wooden carvings, beautiful works of Austrian artist Franz Anton Maulbertsch as well as Dutch painter Jan van Hemessen.
The Archbishop's Cathedral and Diocesan Museum was
founded on the initiative of Cardinal Theodor Innitzer and opened on
June 3, 1933 in the premises of the Archbishop's Palace. In 1973 the
museum moved to the Zwettlerhof (Stephansplatz 6) and from the mid-1980s
further rooms were adapted for museum operations.
From 2010 to
2015 it was called "Dommuseum", and since August 1, 2015 the official
name is "Dom Museum Wien". In May 2012, the museum was closed in order
to rebuild and conceptually realign it. Since March 2013, the Viennese
art historian Johanna Schwanberg has been in charge of the Dom Museum
Wien.
In 2020 the museum was awarded the Austrian Museum Prize.
The architect Boris Podrecca was entrusted with the
conversion that took place after the closure in May 2012. Now the
valuable exhibits of medieval sacred art and the cathedral treasure of
St. Stephen should be shown in the interplay with key works of the
Austrian avant-garde and contemporary positions in the newly designed
premises in the historicist Palais on Stephansplatz. In October 2017,
the new Dom Museum Wien was officially opened.
For the time of
the renovation, many exhibits were housed in the western part of St.
Stephen's Cathedral. However, the most important cultural and
art-historical conglomerates were transferred back to the museum after
the completion of the museum conversion.
The Dom Museum Wien combines several focal points of the
collection:
Medieval cathedral treasures of St. Stephen: These
include valuable altars, ornate sacred objects decorated with gold
and precious stones such as monstrances and chalices, paintings,
valuable manuscripts and magnificent robes.
Rudolf IV the
Donor: The objects related to Archduke Rudolf IV (1339-1365). In the
14th century he laid the foundation stone for the new Gothic
building of St. Stephen's Cathedral and also founded the University
of Vienna. He is generally considered the father of the imperial
Habsburg capital. Highlights of the collection: the portrait of
Rudolf, which is considered to be the oldest painted portrait in the
West[3]; his shroud of silk woven with gold thread, originally made
for a Muslim sultan.
Art of Viennese modernism and the
avant-garde: The Otto Mauer Collection housed in the Dom Museum Wien
spans the spectrum from works by the Expressionists and
Secessionists to works by the most important representatives of the
Austrian avant-garde of the 1950s and 60s, such as Gironcoli,
Kogelnik, Lassnig, Mikl, Oberhuber, Prachensky, Rainer, and many
more a.
Contemporary art from Austria: The Otto Mauer Prize,
which has been awarded to young artists living in Austria every year
since 1983, includes a. also the purchase of a representative work
by the award winner, thereby guaranteeing the constant expansion of
the collection of the Dom Museum Wien. Represented are i.a. Works by
Erwin Bohatsch, Peter Kogler, Heimo Zobernig, Maria Hahnenkamp,
Dorit Margreiter, Esther Stocker, Isa Rosenberger and Nilbar
Güres.
The museum's program moves in the field of tension
between art, church and society. Permanent and special exhibitions
as well as events should offer a contemporary view of the history of
sacred art, but also include contemporary artists. The historical
and contemporary works should be recontextualized and enter into a
dialogue with each other. In addition to intercultural and
interreligious questions, the museum would like to give space to
existential themes that belong to the core of the Christian
religion: identity, migration, exclusion, violence and poverty.
Permanent exhibition
In its permanent collection, the museum
shows art from over a thousand years, especially works from St.
Stephen's Cathedral and from the numerous churches of the
archdiocese in Vienna and Lower Austria. Since the reopening in
2017, a room in the permanent collection has also been dedicated to
the Otto Mauer Collection. An important aspect of the new exhibition
concept is the juxtaposition of old and new art, of tradition and
modernity. Accordingly, works by contemporary artists (Iris
Andraschek, Hubert Lobnig, Maria Hahnenkamp, Judith Huemer) can be
seen in the permanent exhibition, which contextualize, counteract
and complement the historical objects.
2007: Anatomy of transience - painting by Franz Basdera
2007: Fire
and spirit – 1000 years of Bulgarian icons
2007: Christmas Cribs from
Europe – The Schreiber Collection
2008: Religion, flesh and power -
The religious in the work of Alfred Hrdlicka
2008: Between Worlds –
Helmuth Gräff
2008: Heroes, Saints, Heavenly Strikers - Football and
Religion
2008: 75 and not a bit old - special program for the
anniversary
2008: Icons under the Hammer and Sickle – The Russian
Orthodox Church in the 20th Century
2008: Baby Jesus – Nativity
Scenes from Five Continents from the Schreiber Collection
2009: Hans
Robert Pippal – Sacral
2009: Arik Brauer and the Bible – For his 80th
birthday
2009: Hans Plobner – iron etchings, gouaches
2009:
Klemens Maria Hofbauer - City Patron of Vienna - On the 100th
anniversary of the canonization
2009: Expression and Meditation –
From the Rombold Collection
2009: Maria lactans - The breastfeeding
woman in art
2010: Croatia - cradle of European culture
2010:
Memoria mediterranea – Matko Trebotić
2010: Serbia – Cultural bridge
between East and West
2010: Detlev Kreidl - Diversity of Color
2010: Expedition Bible - journey of discovery with all senses
2011:
Dante's Vision - Through Hell to Light
2011: From Arthur Aal to Rosa
Zwirn - The most beautiful Jewish names in the German language
2011:
The City - An Epyllion about the fate of a city
2011: Infant Jesus,
come to me! – Cribs and Kindln from Old Austria
2012: Uzbekistan -
cradle of cultures and civilizations of Central Asia
2012: Symbol
Religion Myth – The Cross in Sculpture
2012: Window to Another World
– Contemporary Icons by Nikos Kypraios
2017: Pictures of Language -
Language of Pictures (opening exhibition after renovation)
2018: Show
me your wound
2019: Family Matters
2020: Fragile Creation
2021:
rich & poor
Management
1961-1972 Rudolf Bachleitner
2007-2012 Bernhard Böhler
since 2013 Johanna Schwanberg