The Albertina
Very close to the Staatsoper Opera house lies the largest Habsburg residential palace of all, the Albertina. The Albertina was erected in the place of the building known as Hofbauamt (Court Construction Office), built in the second half of the 17th century. It was refurbished in 1744 by its director Count Emanuel Teles Silva-Tarouca to become his palace.
In 1794 the palace passed to the Duke Albert of Saxen-Teschen(1738-1822), a German prince who married into the Habsburg imperial family. A few years later the Duke established his graphics collection brought in by Brussels, where he had acted as the governor of Habsburg Netherlands. He had the building extended and refurbished by the Belgian architect Louis Montoyer.
Since then the building lies on the border of the Hofburg Palace. Duke Albert lived & breathed for his art collection which he bequeathed to his wife’s nephew & adopted son Archduke Charles of Austria.
Charles (Led the allied forces in the first winning battle over Napoleon Bonaparte / his statue is one of the two on the Heldenplatz) had the entire palace refurbished in Empire style. Fine furniture & elaborately inlaid parquet floors. Up to the year 1919, the palace was constantly renovated & redecorated.
In 2000 work began on the restoration of the staterooms with the return of the original furniture secured through successive acquisitions. It was largely concluded by 2007.
Today the collections housed in its elaborate rooms include more than one million prints. Along with the prints, 60.000 drawings with famous pieces such as Dürer’s “Hare” or Rubens’ studies of children. Masterpieces by Cézanne, Picasso, Klimt, Schiele & Kokoschka in the rotating exhibitions.
On permanent display, the exhibition “Masterworks of Modern Art” covers more than 130 years of art history. From French impressionism to German expressionism to the Russian avant-garde.
Monet’s “Water Lily pond”. Degas’ “Dancers”. Renoir’s “Girl”. These are only some of the masterpieces on display. The visit can be combined with a sample of Viennese culinary art in Do & Co Albertina restaurant. Or you could opt for the Augustinerkeller, right next to the palace. More
