A precious Baroque monument commissioned by Emperor Charles VI, housing a richly endowed library and museums
One of Austria's "most beautiful temples to knowledge" of the Baroque period. The architectural jewel of the imperial residence, the library owes its Baroque magnificence to the master of the genre: Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach. The great ceremonial hall features frescoes by Daniel Gran on the themes of war and peace, in honor of Emperor Charles VI. The columns are reminiscent of those of Hercules, and aptly express the emperor's designs on Gibraltar. In the center, the statue of Charles VI must have made a strong impression on the first visitors to the site. Hidden behind the book-laden shelves are hidden study cabinets. The library houses over 200,000 volumes and some 8,000 incunabula handwritten before Gutenberg invented the printing press. Among its treasures are Johannes von Troppau's Evangeliary (1389), Gutenberg's Genesis and the Peutinger Table, the ancestor of our maps. This now national library also includes collections of works on music and photography, and over 17,615 periodicals.
The National Library also houses the Esperanto Museum, the Papyrus Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Austrian History. The3rd floor also houses the world's largest collection of globes. These include two magnificent Venetian globes from the Baroque period, one terrestrial and the other celestial, measuring over a meter in diameter.
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Further information
Opening time and information on NATIONAL LIBRARY
Daily, 9 am to 6 pm. Group ticket for the ceremonial hall and library museums €21, free for children under 19.
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