Founded in 1776 by Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen, the Albertina in Vienna holds one of the largest and most valuable collections of graphic art in the world, more than a million prints and tens of thousands of drawings spanning five centuries. Set in a former Habsburg residential palace at the southern tip of the Hofburg, on a bastion of the old city walls, it ranks among the most prestigious art museums anywhere. The duke, who had married a favourite daughter of the Empress Maria Theresa, assembled the core of the collection as a deliberate, encyclopaedic survey of art from the late Middle Ages onward, and it has been expanded by his heirs and successors ever since. Treasures include world-famous drawings by Durer, among them his meticulous study of a young hare, alongside works by Michelangelo, Rubens, Rembrandt and countless others. Because works on paper are fragile, the masterpieces are shown in rotating exhibitions rather than on permanent display, but the museum offers far more. The grand Habsburg state rooms, restored to their nineteenth-century splendour, can be visited, and a long-term loan of classical modern art, from Monet and Picasso onward, gives the galleries a permanent display of celebrated paintings. The palace itself, heavily bombed in 1945 and since restored, was given a striking modern entrance in the form of a sweeping titanium canopy projecting over the square, marrying imperial history with contemporary architecture. Its location could hardly be more central, between the State Opera and the Hofburg, with a terrace offering fine views over the opera house and the surrounding city, placing it at the very heart of cultural Vienna. For visitors, the Albertina combines an unrivalled graphic collection, opulent royal interiors and major modern paintings in a single palace, making it one of the essential museums of a city extraordinarily rich in art. The museum opens daily with long hours, and booking online helps at peak times given its popularity, while a combined ticket with Albertina Modern covers both venues. A visit takes in the rotating graphic-art exhibitions, the permanent modern paintings and the restored state rooms, easily filling a couple of hours, and the central location between the Opera and the Hofburg makes it one of the simplest of Vienna great museums to reach on foot.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: Albertinaplatz 1, Vienna, Austria

Telephone: +43 1 534 83 0

Website: https://www.albertina.at

Opening Date: 01/01/1776