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The world’s first Jewish museum was founded in Vienna in 1895 but the exhibits were confiscated by the National Socialists in 1938. Today’s museum was established in 1990 and shows unique collections of ritual objects, such as Chanukah lamps and Torah crowns. The museum also hosts temporary exhibitions and has a library and archives.

Another private collection, this one centres around coffee, the favourite drink of the Viennese. In the little showroom various coffee machines from the past 200 years are on display, together with grinders, samovars and coffeepots. You can also learn about the different ways to roast the beans.

This museum seeks to shed light on Vienna’s darker side and presents the city’s most sensational crimes from the Middle Ages to the present. You will find gruesome exhibits here, such as the mummified heads of executed criminals and grisly murder weapons. The museum also details the development of Austria’s legal system.

Dedicated to the modern classics and their forerunners, the Kunstforum organizes several major exhibitions a year. By presenting shows of world-famous artists such as Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka, Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh, the gallery is a constant visitors’ magnet and has always attracted large crowds of art-lovers.

The Kunsthalle has two venues – one within the Museumsquartier and one at Karlsplatz – thereby offering a large amount of space for changing exhibitions. It specializes in contemporary art, particularly object art. At the Karlsplatz site the exhibits can be seen from the outside, as the building is constructed as an airy glass cube.

Not only is this gallery home to the paintings and architectural models by the Austrian artist Friedens-reich Hundertwasser, but the colourful building is a work of art in itself. Near the famous Hundertwasserhaus (see pp34–5), the museum’s black-and-white façade, uneven floors and roof gardens were designed by the artist in 1989.

The imperial art collection is housed in the Museum of Fine Arts and includes one of the world’s finest gatherings of works by the Old Masters (see pp18–21).

The Museum of Fine Arts (see pp18–21) and the Natural History Museum (see p103) are the two gems of Vienna’s world-class exhibition spaces and shouldn’t be missed by any visitor.

This edifice was commissioned by the Society of Graphic Artists and built between 1865–8 in the style of the Italian Renaissance. The house serves as a location for changing exhibitions but there is also the House Gallery which is mainly used by the society’s members to present their works in solo shows. Outside the Künstlerhaus is the Passage Gallery, which offers up and coming artists a place to experiment with media and projection art.

Dedicated to the elegant white stallions of the Spanish Riding School, the museum explains the history of the stables from the 16th century to the present. Paintings, uniforms and tackle are on display, and information is given on the horses’ breeding and training. You can also get a glimpse of the Lipizzaner horses through the stable windows (see pp16–17).