Month: November 2012

12 posts

Classical Sunday Brunch

A visit to the museum, especially when you’re in Vienna, is always a pleasant cultural treat - moreso if the experience can be capped with a delightful midday meal within the premises. The museums in the capital city of Austria offer not only visual delights but fine gustatory pleasures that will make for an ultimate leisurely weekend. Check out this top-rated museum restaurants and their Sunday brunch offerings: Kunsthistorisches Museum. The Kuppelhalle offers the “Kunstbrunch” (Art Brunch) every Sundays from 11 am to 2:30 pm.

Josephinum

The Josephinum or officially known as “Collegium Medico-Chirurgicum-Josephinum” was built as an academic institution for army surgeons and midwives in training. It was founded in 1785 under Emperor Joseph II (hence the name), a neo-Classical building in Alsergrund. When it was opened, it was given an imperial endowment for anatomical wax models along with an assortment of botanical, zoological and geological samples.

Supermarket of Art

Have you ever wanted to own a piece of fine art but have always been intimidated or scared that it would cost you an arm and a leg? If you’re in Vienna there’s a place open around this time of the year where you can actually shop for an artwork just like you were picking up stuff from your local grocery store, and the prices will not leave you with an empty wallet.

The Globe Museum

This may not be a museum that will interest the general public but a visit to the Globe Museum in the Palais Mollard-Clary in Innere Stadt can give one a different perspective about the planet that we live in. The only one of its kind in the world, the Globen Museum houses a collection of about 600 terrestrial, celestial and lunar globes. It was opened to the public in 1956 and is part of the Austrian National Library.

Food and Music to Warm the Soul

Every culture that celebrates the Yuletide season has its own special ways to do so. In Vienna there are the popular Christmas markets but there are more heartfelt event that are being established as traditions in the heart of the city. One of them is the Waermespender: Soup & Soul held in the Resselpark in Karlsplatz. The Waermespender market offers a warm and cozy kind of fun.

Schloss Neugebaude

In 16th century Vienna there have been a number of magnificent castles that dot the landscape and one of the most impressive was Schloss Neugebaude, a leisure palace for the Habsburgs in Simmering. The royal residence, one of the best Renaissance structures during its time was built on the site of the headquarters of the Turkish Sultan Suliemann during the 1529 Siege of Vienna.

Vienna Art Week 2012

As if having a museum virtually on every corner is not enough, Vienna steps up its cultural promotion further by holding the 8th Vienna Art Week. From November 19 to 25, the capital city takes the spotlight with a week-long calendar of activities for contemporary art experts and enthusiasts around the world. The project was an initiative of the Dorotheum and the Art Cluster Vienna and it aims to make Vienna known not only for its illustrious artistic past but for its present and future crop of creative minds.

Akademie der Bildenden Kunste

Can’t get enough of fine art in Vienna? Then visit the prestigious Academy of Fine Arts at the Ringstrasse. More than an academic institution for art where famous painters studied and honed their talents, it is also home to the Gemaldegalerie (“Painting Gallery”). The gallery which is located on the first floor of the university building is said to be Vienna’s oldest public art museum where most of the collections are on permanent display since 1877.

Heeresgeschichtliches Museum

The Museum of Military History in Vienna may not appear to most as an interesting place to spend an afternoon in, but it actually holds a collection considered to be among the most important in Austrian history and culture. Located in Arsenal, it was built in 1856 through the order of Franz Josef I and is the oldest public museum in Vienna. The building that houses the museum is in itself an architectural monument in the city, an enormous Neo-Byzantine red-brick structure that served as a fortress after the 1848 rebellion.

Culture for the Visually Impaired

Trust the culture capital of Austria to find ways so that those who are blind can also enjoy what used to a virtually visual experience for many. The city’s premier theater institutions have come up with special events and innovative services that make live performances equally pleasurable to those who are visually-handicapped. Here are some of them: The highly creative and unconventional Schauspielhaus has partnered with the University of Vienna’s Research Unit for Special Needs and Inclusive Education for a unique service for blind and visually-impaired theatre patrons.