Albertina Museum Vienna: World’s Finest Graphic Art Collection & Habsburg State Rooms

About Albertina Museum

The Albertina Museum is Vienna’s premier institution for works on paper, housed in a former Habsburg palace perched on the Augustinian Bastion—one of the last surviving sections of Vienna’s old fortifications within the Hofburg complex. Founded in 1776 by Duke Albert of Saxony-Teschen, the museum holds one of the world’s most comprehensive graphic art collections: approximately 65,000 drawings and over one million prints spanning five centuries—from Dürer and Michelangelo through Impressionism to contemporary works.

The palace itself anchors two distinct experiences: the Habsburg State Rooms—twenty lavishly restored ceremonial apartments showcasing imperial living from the late 18th and 19th centuries—and rotating exhibitions drawn from the permanent collection and international loans. The Batliner Collection, displayed on the museum’s upper floors, offers a permanent survey of modern art from French Impressionism through Picasso, Rothko, and Baselitz, providing context for the museum’s avant-garde holdings.

In 2003, architect Hans Hollein added a titanium-clad flying roof—a sharp modernist canopy that dramatically overhangs Albertinaplatz—signaling the museum’s commitment to bridging historical preservation with contemporary design. The building perches atop the last surviving segment of Vienna’s city fortifications, the Augustinian Bastion, embedding centuries of urban history into its foundations.

Albertina Museum Details

• Location: Innere Stadt (1st district)
• Region: Vienna, Austria
• Address: Albertinaplatz 1, 1010
• Entrance: Main Entrance (Albertinaplatz)
• Founded: 1776 (18th century)
• Architectural Style: Neoclassical palace with 2003 modernist extension (Hans Hollein)
• Entrance fee: €19.90 adults; €15.90 concessions (students & seniors 65+); free under 19 (prices subject to change)
• Tickets: Available online and at the box office
• Opening hours: Daily 10:00–18:00; Wed & Fri 10:00–21:00 (as of November 2025)
• Phone: +43 1 534 83-0
• Transport: U1/U2/U4 Karlsplatz; U3 Stephansplatz; Trams 1, 2, D, 62, 71 & Lokalbahn Wien–Baden (Kärntner Ring/Oper); Bus 2A (Albertina)
• Accessibility: Full wheelchair access via lift from Albertinaplatz; accessible restrooms; wheelchairs available at entrance

Location

Current Exhibitions

• GOTHIC MODERN. Munch, Beckmann, Kollwitz — Major autumn show placing around 200 works of classical modernism (c. 1875–1925) in dialogue with medieval Gothic art; 19 September 2025–11 January 2026 (Albertina Museum).
• Lisette Model. Retrospective — Comprehensive survey of Vienna-born photographer Lisette Model with around 150 black-and-white works from 1933–1959, from Nice promenades to New York jazz clubs; 30 October 2025–22 February 2026.
• Leiko Ikemura. Motherscape — Cross-section of Japanese-Swiss artist Leiko Ikemura’s poetically powerful paintings, sculptures, and works on paper exploring femininity, transformation, and identity; until 6 April 2026.
• The Batliner Collection: Monet to Picasso — Permanent presentation spanning French Impressionism, Fauvism, German Expressionism, and Classical Modernism (ongoing).
• Rotating Print Room Displays — Thematic selections from the graphic collection; rotated regularly due to light sensitivity (check official website for current themes).

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History & Development

Duke Albert of Saxony-Teschen, son-in-law of Empress Maria Theresa and son of Augustus III, the Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, began assembling his graphic art collection in Brussels during the 1770s. Upon returning to Vienna in 1776, he transformed the former Court Construction Office—built atop the Augustinian Bastion, a remnant of the city’s 16th-century fortifications—into his residence. Architect Louis Montoyer expanded the palace between 1801 and 1804, creating the ceremonial halls and connecting wings that define the current structure.

Duke Albert’s methodical acquisitions established the collection’s range: complete print series by Dürer, Rembrandt etchings, Italian Renaissance drawings, and French Rococo works. By his death in 1822, the Albertina (named for its founder) held approximately 14,000 drawings and 200,000 prints, already recognized as one of Europe’s foremost graphic art repositories. The collection passed through Habsburg heirs until 1919, when the new Austrian Republic confiscated the palace and collection. In the early 1920s the graphic art holdings were merged with the former imperial court library, and the building—now formally named the Albertina—evolved into a public museum.

World War II brought catastrophe. The palace suffered heavy bomb damage in March 1945, destroying parts of the roof and state rooms. Post-war restoration stretched across decades. A full modernization followed between 1998 and 2003, and in 2008 Hans Hollein’s titanium Soravia Wing—the iconic flying roof above Albertinaplatz—completed the new entrance sequence and marked the Albertina’s contemporary architectural profile. In 2007, the Albertina received the Batliner Collection—roughly 500 masterworks of classical modernism from Monet to Picasso—as a permanent loan (“Dauerleihgabe”), transforming the museum from a specialist print room into a broader survey institution. In 2020, the opening of Albertina Modern at Künstlerhaus on Karlsplatz extended the museum’s reach into post-1945 contemporary art.

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Highlights

Albrecht Dürer’s “Young Hare” (1502). The Albertina’s most iconic work—a watercolor and gouache study rendered with microscopic precision, every hair individually described. Dürer’s realism anticipated scientific illustration by centuries; the hare remains one of the most reproduced images in art history. Due to light sensitivity, it appears in exhibitions only periodically (check ahead if this is essential).

Albrecht Dürer’s “Praying Hands” (1508). A preparatory study for an altarpiece, showing clasped hands in silverpoint and white heightening. The drawing’s devotional intensity transcended its original function, becoming a standalone meditation on prayer—reproduced endlessly in religious contexts worldwide.

Michelangelo Studies. The Albertina holds significant Michelangelo drawings, including male nude studies that reveal his sculptural thinking on paper—cross-hatched musculature, impossible torsion, bodies caught mid-movement. These sheets document Renaissance disegno theory: drawing as the foundation of all visual arts.

The Batliner Collection: Monet to Picasso. Industrialist Herbert Batliner’s collection brings 500+ works spanning c. 1860–1970: Monet’s water lilies, Renoir nudes, Cézanne landscapes, Picasso portraits, Chagall fantasies, and German Expressionist works by Kirchner, Nolde, and Kokoschka. The display offers a concise panorama of classical modernism.

Habsburg State Rooms. Twenty ceremonial apartments restored to their 19th-century appearance: gilded Rococo salons, Neoclassical libraries, and Biedermeier dining rooms. The sequence culminates in the Wedgwood Room—pale blue walls lined with English jasperware plaques—and the Audience Hall, used by Habsburg archdukes for formal receptions throughout the 19th century.

The Print Collection. Beyond star works, the Albertina’s depth rewards specialists: complete Rembrandt etching cycles, Piranesi’s Rome fantasies, Goya’s Disasters of War, Japanese woodblock prints, and one of the world’s most important archives of Schiele and Klimt drawings. The Study Room (Studiensaal) allows researchers to examine works by appointment—a functioning archive, not merely a display museum.

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Why Visit?

The Albertina offers what no other Viennese museum can: intimate encounters with works too fragile to display permanently. Dürer’s “Young Hare” measures 25 × 23 cm / 10 × 9 inches—you lean in, nose nearly touching the vitrine, and see individual pen strokes from 1502. Graphic art demands this proximity; the Albertina’s galleries are designed for slow looking, low lighting, small groups. Where Schönbrunn overwhelms and the Belvedere dazzles, the Albertina whispers.

The State Rooms complement this intensity with imperial grandeur—a reminder that Duke Albert lived here, that these salons hosted Congress of Vienna negotiations, that Habsburg archdukes walked these parquets. Recent conservation retained visible wear: scuffed floorboards, faded silk damask, patched plasterwork. The imperfection humanizes imperial spectacle, revealing use rather than just display. Pair this with the Batliner Collection, and you trace art’s arc from aristocratic patronage (Dürer serving Maximilian I) through bourgeois collecting (Monet’s Impressionism) to market speculation (Baselitz’s contemporary canvases).

Locals value the Wednesday and Friday late openings (until 21:00) for post-work visits when crowds thin. The museum café—accessed without a ticket—occupies a vaulted hall overlooking Burggarten, serving Viennese staples in a setting that avoids tourist-trap clichés. Budget 90 minutes minimum: thirty minutes for State Rooms, one hour for either a temporary exhibition or the Batliner Collection. Serious enthusiasts need three hours, especially if catching a Print Room display. Combine with the nearby Hofburg Imperial Apartments (5-minute walk) or Albertina Modern at Karlsplatz (10-minute walk via U-Bahn) for a full morning of art spanning five centuries.

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Ticket Discounts

Visit the Albertina Museum for less with Vienna’s top city passes. The Vienna Pass gives free access to the Albertina Museum and 70+ attractions citywide, plus skip-the-line entry. For flexible transport and discounted tickets to major sights, get the Vienna City Card (24h–72h) with unlimited public transport and museum savings. Both passes include free cancellation up to 24h before activation.