Vienna

With its 41 paintings and 188 works on paper, the Leopold Museum in Vienna’s MuseumsQuartier has the world’s largest and most significant collection of works by Egon Schiele. The comprehensive collection “Vienna 1900 and Art Nouveau” is another highlight of the Leopold Museum. The paintings by Schiele’s mentor and paternal friend Gustav Klimt are especially noteworthy. A program of special exhibitions also presents large-scale shows of work by internationally famous artists. The offer is rounded off by a well-curated museum and a cafe with a patio that affords a view of the main courtyard of the MuseumsQuartier. More information on www.wien.info/en/sightseeing/museums-exhibitions/top/mq/leopold-museum

As the home of the Wiener Werkstätte archives, the MAK Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art is unique in its ability to represent the history and significance of the Wiener Werkstätte. The archive, which was donated to the MAK (Austrian Museum of Applied Arts) in 1955 by its last owner, Alfred Hofmann, comprises about 16,000 design drawings, including 5,500 from Josef Hoffmann, about 20,000 fabric samples, posters, postcard designs, model books, photo albums and business correspondence. One of the highlights of the MAK’s collection is Gustav Klimt’s nine-part working drawings for the mosaic frieze (around 1910) in the dining room of the Palais Stoclet in Brussels, which was designed by Josef Hoffmann. After a restoration process that took several years, this has again been on permanent display in the MAK as of 2012. The Palais Stoclet, which is considered one of the Wiener Werkstätte’s most important works, was commissioned by Adolphe Stoclet and built in the Avenue de Tervuren from 1906-1911. It most clearly symbolizes the utopia of the Gesamtkunstwerk, one of the main concepts behind the Wiener Werkstätte. More information on www.wien.info/en/sightseeing/museums-exhibitions/top/mak

Friedensreich Hundertwasser created the Kunst Haus Wien with colorful tiles, tilted walls and uneven floors. Colorful surfaces and irregular shapes, often overgrown with rampant green, are waiting for you. Multi-colored surfaces, irregular shapes, often overgrown with rampant green: This was how the painter not only added new momentum to Vienna’s architecture but also established an exhibition center that shows Hundertwasser’s works along with rotating exhibitions of exciting contemporary art. The ground floor also contains a cafe/restaurant and a shop. More information on www.wien.info/en/sightseeing/museums-exhibitions/top/kunsthauswien

Schools of yellow, red and blue fish, green mambas and sharks: over 10,000 animals from every continent live in the aquariums, terrariums and the 20-meter-high tropical house with a waterfall, suspension bridge and mangrove landscape. The tropical house and Krokipark (crocodile park) also include free-flying birds as well as monkeys and crocodiles roaming freely. The terrarium houses poisonous and giant snakes, lizards, leaf-cutting ants and tarantulas. Another highlight since September 2013 is the 150,000-liter tank for the hammerhead sharks on the tenth floor of the former anti-aircraft tower. And a cafe on the 11th floor, which also opened at the same time, provides visitors with a breathtaking view of Vienna. The House of the Sea is housed in one of Vienna’s six monumental anti-aircraft towers from the Second World War. More information on www.wien.info/en/vienna-for/families/indoor/sea-house

The Imperial Palace was the residence of the Habsburg emperor until 1918. From the 13th century until just before the end of the monarchy, the area was fitted out in its imperial splendor in its present-day size. The original gothic building around today’s Schweizerhof was extended on a continuous basis, resulting in an expansive building complex formed of different sections, which contributes an essential character to the appearance of Vienna's Old City. Europe’s largest imperial cultural complex today houses more than two dozen collections of international standing, including the Austrian National Library (www.onb.ac.at), Weltmuseum (world museum) and the Imperial Treasury (www.khm.at), the Imperial Silver Collection, the Imperial Apartments and the Sisi Museum (www.hofburg-wien.at) as well as the Spanish Riding School (www.srs.at). More information on www.wien.info/en/sightseeing/sights/imperial/imperial-palace