★★★★★ 5.0
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Albertina
Standing at Albertinapl facing this neoclassical palace, you're looking at one of Europe's most improbable survivors. American bombs reduced it to smoking ruins in March 1945—yet today it holds the world's largest collection of old master prints. In 1776, a Habsburg emperor gave this palace as a wedding gift to his favorite daughter Archduchess Marie Christine and Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen. That romantic gesture seeded nearly one million prints and 65,000 drawings. As you enter through the neoclassical rooms redesigned by Joseph Kornhäusel, twenty imperial Habsburg staterooms unfold. The Hall of the Muses stops you cold—life-sized marble sculptures of Apollo and his nine companions in perfect formation. But the true miracle isn't the art. This palace was rebuilt from total destruction, meticulously restored from 1998 to 2008 by Hans Hollein and other architects. You're standing in a building born from love, nearly erased by war, and ultimately reborn as one of the greatest repositories of human artistic achievement.
Did You Know?
- : The Albertina was built on the site of the Augustinian Bastion, one of the last remaining sections of Vienna’s medieval city walls, giving it an elevated position that offers stunning panoramic views of the State Opera, Hotel Sacher, and Albertinaplatz—making it a favorite spot for photographers and history lovers alike.
- The museum’s graphic art collection began with a remarkable gift from Count Giacomo Durazzo, the Austrian ambassador in Venice, who presented nearly 1,000 artworks to Duke Albert and his wife Marie Christine in 1776, intending the collection to serve 'education and the power of morality' for future generations.
- Hidden within the Albertina are the lavishly restored Spanish Apartments, created in 1895 by Archduke Friedrich as a royal retreat for the Spanish royal family, featuring original furnishings and a rare, handmade emerald green wallpaper in the Oval Cabinet—a detail often missed by casual visitors.