Outlook & review

Schnitzel, Schubert, nice numbers at the Wien Museum

From the left: Museum Director Matti Bunzl, City Councillor for Culture Veronica Kaup-Hasler, Commercial Museum Director Christina Schwarz

(Bild: Stadt Wien / Markus Wache)

The Wien Museum looked back on its first year and looked ahead to 2025: Bolstered by successful figures, Director Matti Bunzl is also venturing into more adventurous topics such as the history of meat consumption in the city. There is also a new building project: the Schubert House is being renovated.

"This will be our exhibition about the Wiener Schnitzel," jokingly announced museum director Matti Bunzl about the large fall exhibition with the simple title "Meat". In truth, it's about more than that. The exhibition aims to show how meat processing and meat consumption has shaped the city from the Middle Ages to the St. Marx slaughterhouses to the present day. Bunzl probably also dares to tackle somewhat unwieldy topics because of the success of the first year since the reopening of his museum.

Ticket revenue the same despite free admission
Despite free admission to the museum's permanent exhibition, income from special exhibitions and "branches", such as the new Prater Museum, has remained almost the same: 634,000 euros for the Wien Museum and almost as much again from the museum's other locations, from the Roman Museum to the Hermesvilla. However, the number of visitors to the main building has increased fivefold thanks to free admission. Although the museum now sees more tourists than before, says Bunzl, the free admission is still primarily intended for the Viennese population and has been well received.

The history of the St. Marx abattoirs is of course an integral part of the exhibition.

(Bild: Wien Museum)

In Bunzl's view, free admission is not so much a money issue, but rather a factor that changes the museum visit. As a result, people are "not under so much pressure to see everything", can spend more time with exhibits, come back again and thus build up a different relationship with the museum, especially as a Viennese. Christina Schwarz, the commercial director of the museum, explained with reference to the annual balance sheet that it was precisely the economic perspective that spoke in favor of free admission.

Which exhibitions are coming this year

Even before the "Meat" exhibition in the fall, the museum will dedicate itself to the occupation period in Vienna from April 10, focusing in particular on how the Allies attempted to shape the Austrian cultural landscape. From May 22, the second, smaller spring exhibition will explain how the development of reinforced concrete changed Vienna from 1900 onwards.

The smaller autumn exhibition is dedicated to one of Vienna's most important and at the same time least known contributions to the history of communication: hardly anyone knows that the so-called isotype - popularly known as "Manderlgrafik" - is a Viennese invention. There are also smaller exhibitions in the "musa" and in the Communnity Gallery of the main building on Karlsplatz.

The pictorial representation of data, today a global graphic standard, is a Viennese invention.

(Bild: Wien Museum)

Not under "blockbuster" pressure
However, the museum is still only around 15 percent self-financed. The city's annual 27.6 million would give it the freedom "not to have to fire off one blockbuster after another", conceded Bunzl, who sees his museum as a "research and social institution" that does not pander to the public, but wants to convey important topics in the most appealing way possible. City Councillor for Culture Veronica Kaup-Hasler wants the museum to "seduce the senses into knowledge".

In addition to exhibitions, the museum association is also opening a new construction site: Franz Schubert's birthplace is to be renovated and redesigned. The tender is to be launched this year and construction will begin in 2026 so that the house is ready for the 200th anniversary of the composer's death in 2028. In addition, the main house's educational offerings are to be expanded, from a scavenger hunt through the museum (for groups of 10 to 35 people) to, according to Bunzl, "naturally" matching menus to the meat exhibition in the museum restaurant.