Facing its twin, the Natural History Museum, across Maria-Theresien-Platz on Vienna’s Ringstrasse, the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien holds the art the Habsburgs collected over centuries. It opened in 1891 as a purpose-built home for these imperial holdings (source: [Eurolandmarks](https://eurolandmarks.com/attractions/austria/vienna/kunsthistorisches-museum)), and visitors come for one of the world’s great collections of Old Master paintings.
Gottfried Semper and Carl von Hasenauer designed the building, and its interiors rival the paintings. The grand staircase rises beneath Canova’s Theseus, with spandrel and intercolumnar paintings by the young Gustav Klimt overhead. The Picture Gallery holds the world’s largest group of paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, including Hunters in the Snow and The Tower of Babel, along with Vermeer’s The Art of Painting and works by Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio and Rubens. The Kunstkammer displays Cellini’s gold Saliera. The Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection and the Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities cover the ancient world. The café-restaurant sits beneath the central cupola.
Visitor Highlights & Practical Info
Arrive at opening or on the extended Thursday evening to see the Bruegel room with fewer people. Weekends and summer bring the heaviest crowds. Book tickets online, and check current hours, closures and accessibility services at the [official KHM site](https://www.khm.at/en/visit). To get there, take the U2 or U3 to Volkstheater or the U2 to Museumsquartier. The Hofburg is across the Ring, and the MuseumsQuartier is directly behind the museum.
