The Haus der Musik in Vienna’s first district occupies Archduke Charles’ former palace, where the Vienna Philharmonic’s founder Otto Nicolai lived when he organized the orchestra’s first concerts in 1842. The interactive sound museum covers the physics of sound, individual rooms for Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Strauss, Mahler, and the Second Viennese School, and the Philharmonic’s history. The highlight is the virtual conductor exhibit where you attempt to direct the orchestra on screen: they stop playing if your conducting is too erratic. Open daily 10:00-22:00, admission around EUR 16. Two minutes from Karlsplatz (U1/U2/U4). Genuinely worth 2-3 hours; better than most Vienna museums for visitors new to classical music.
museum in Vienna
Haus der Musik
The Haus der Musik lets you try to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic, and the orchestra stops playing if your gestures are too erratic. This is the museum's most talked-about exhibit and an accurate summary of its approach: interactive, genuinely engaging, and unexpectedly demanding.
- Type
- museum
- Destination
- Vienna
- Cost
- Paid entry
- Founded
- 2000
- Era
- Contemporary
- Address
- Seilerstatte 30, 1010 Wien, 1010 Vienna
- Coordinates
- 48.2038, 16.3732
- Official website
- Visit website