Kaiserliches Hofmobiliendepot (Imperial Furniture Collection)

Description:

• A collection spanning 3 centuries of royal acquisitions, this museum is a treasure house of the Habsburg attics. Exhibits range from the throne of the Emperor Francis Joseph and Prince Rudolf's cradle to a forest of coat racks and some 15,000 chairs. At the end of World War I, with the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the new republic inherited this horde of property. Empress Maria Theresa established the collection in 1747; it now totals some 55,000 objects.

  The collection includes prized examples of decorative and applied arts; it is particularly rich in Biedermeier furnishings, which characterized the era from 1815 to 1848. Particularly stunning is Maria Theresa's imposing desk of palissander (an exotic wood) marquetry with a delicate bone inlay. The modern world also intrudes, with pieces designed by such 20th-century Viennese architects as Adolf Loos and Otto Wagner. The collection occupies a century-old warehouse complex halfway between Hofburg Palace and Schönbrunn Palace. Allow about 2 1/2 hours to visit the three floors. Expect cheek-by-jowl bric-a-brac.

• © Frommer's 2012

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Recommended 2010