Wien Museum

The Wien Museum on Karlsplatz is Vienna’s city history museum, reopened in December 2023 after a major expansion, and the permanent collection is entirely free. That alone makes it worth a visit. Two thousand years of Viennese history in one building: Roman artifacts from the legionary camp at Vindobona, medieval guild objects, Klimt paintings from the Secession period, extraordinary models of the Ottoman sieges of 1529 and 1683, and the documentation of Red Vienna, the Social Democratic housing program that built 65,000 apartments in the 1920s. The 2023 reconstruction added a rooftop terrace with a direct view of the Karlskirche, the Baroque church across the square, which is one of the best free elevated viewpoints in the city center. The museum also runs a network of satellite locations across Vienna, including several composers’ residences. Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00. Temporary exhibitions charge entry; the permanent collection does not.