🇦🇹 Albertina

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The Albertina

The Graphic Art Collection of the Albertina Museum – one of the largest and most valuable collections of its kind, as well as being one of the most-visited tourist attractions in Vienna – is housed in the building where the royal family once resided.

The 24-hectare complex of the Vienna Hofburg is home to a unique range of treasures that are well worth discovering. One of these can be found at the southern end of the Hofburg – on the south-eastern side of Josefsplatz – where the Augustinertrakt meets the Archduke Albert Palace. This is the “Albertina”.

Originally, Maria Theresa had the palace built for her advisor Don Emanuel da Silva Conde Tarouca, in 1744. In 1792, the Emperor, Kaiser Franz II, gifted the palace to Duke Albert and his wife, Archduchess Maria Christine, a daughter of Maria Theresa. Albert, who had previously founded his collection in Bratislava, and amassed 14,000 drawings and 200,000 print graphics over 50 years of collecting, brought the priceless pieces to Vienna. In an effort to accommodate the works of art in suitably grand fashion, the royal art collector had both the palace and adjoining library rebuilt, and the building was later renovated to include a magnificently furnished representative wing.

Duke Albert didn't just give his name to this new wing, the “Albertina”, however; he also bequeathed to it some of the world’s most famous, and most valuable, works of art. These include male nudes by Michelangelo, portraits of children by Rubens – and Albrecht Dürer's world-famous “Young Hare”, of course. This nature study, painted with water colours by the Nuremberg artist in 1502, is now the flagship image of the Albertina.

Something even many Viennese visitors don't know, by the way, is that when you do drop by to admire the iconic picture, you don't actually get to see the original. This is because the picture is now something over 500 years old, and requires special protection from the elements. It is kept, under perfectly climate-controlled conditions, in the underground storage area operated by the Albertina.

The vast array of pieces that make up the collection of the Albertina are stored on state-of-the-art high-level racks in this underground storage, which is 24 metres below ground and offers 5,000 cubic metres of space. An incredible 948,000 items from the graphics collection are safely kept there, alongside a further 164,000 pieces from the photographic, architectural and poster collections. When required, drawings and graphics are retrieved from the controlled atmosphere using fully-automated air locks, so they can be shown to academics studying them, researchers and those interested in art. Sometimes they even get to see the original “Young Hare”.

As well as its graphics collection, meanwhile, the Albertina offers a terrific show collection, “Monet to Picasso”. This exhibition presents an unrivalled range of masterpieces of classical modernism – from French Impressionism, through German Expressionism, to Russian Avant-Garde and the present day. This is the best opportunity you'll ever have to admire such masterpieces as Monet's "Water Lilies", Degas' "Dancers" and Renoir's "Portrait of a Young Girl (Elisabeth Maître)", alongside works by the likes of Beckmann, Chagall, Picasso, Malevich and Warhol. Phenomenal works of art ranging from the 15th century to the present day are also shown in regular additional exhibitions.

The State Rooms, where Duke Albert and Maria Christine once lived – as did Archduke Karl, who won fame as conqueror of Napoleon at the Battle of Aspern in May 1809 – offer a fascinating insight into life at the Habsburg residence.

Karl's wife, Archduchess Henriette von Nassau-Weilburg, is ascribed a very different achievement. This story, however, is far less well-known. In December 1823, the Archduchess wanted to treat her family to a very special Christmas celebration. In accordance with Protestant custom, as practised in her native Hessen, she had what was known as a Graßbaum – a colourfully decorated fir tree with sweets hanging from it – installed in their rooms. Emperor Franz I had one designed the same way at the Hofburg the very next year, and it wasn't long before Austrian families everywhere were decorating a “Christmas Tree” to mark the festive season every year. So the Albertina is the place where Austria's first-ever Christmas tree once stood.

Another tip: If you're enjoying your visit to the Albertina, then you should be sure to make time to drop by the Collection's new annex too. Since May 2020, Albertina Modern has been accommodated in the art house – originally built in 1865 and freshly renovated – as the Museum for Modern and Contemporary Art. It's only a quick walk, 9 minutes or so, past the Sacher and Vienna State Opera, then just across to Karlsplatz No. 5, until you're rewarded with works of art from the Essl – the most important collection of Austrian art after 1945 – and the extensive Jablonka Collection of contemporary art.

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