Military History Museum

Also known as Heeresgeschichtliches Museum

The car Archduke Franz Ferdinand was riding when he was shot in Sarajevo in 1914 is parked in this museum in Vienna, and the blood-stained uniform he was wearing when he died is displayed nearby. For any visitor trying to understand how Europe ended up in the First World War, this is the most direct physical connection to that sequence of events.

Vienna’s Military History Museum (Heeresgeschichtliches Museum) holds the car and blood-stained uniform of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Habsburg heir assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914. The museum covers Austrian military history from the Thirty Years’ War to the 20th century, housed in the first purpose-built museum in Vienna, from 1856. It is less crowded than the Ringstrasse museums and genuinely interesting throughout. Allow 2 to 3 hours. Located at the Arsenal complex in the 3rd district, 15 minutes on foot from the Belvedere; admission is budget-priced. Check hgm.at for current hours.