MuseumsQuartier

The MuseumsQuartier Wien (MQ) is an arts and culture complex in the 7th district of Vienna, Austria, in the Neubau area near the city centre. Opened in 2001 on the site of the former imperial court stables, it combines historic Baroque buildings with contemporary museum architecture. With 114,310 square metres of space, 61 cultural institutions and around five million visitors annually, it is one of the largest arts and culture complexes in Europe. At the time of its completion, it was the eighth-largest cultural area in the world. The complex functions not only as a location for major museums and exhibition spaces but also as a publicly accessible urban space, a production site for contemporary culture, and a cultural urban development project. Scholars have described it as an Austrian cultural-policy experiment that combines museum functions, cultural production, public space and urban redevelopment within a single institutional and architectural framework.

The MuseumsQuartier occupies the site of the former imperial court stables. The main building was originally constructed in 1725 as the imperial court stables, commissioned by Emperor Karl VI in 1713 to Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and completed after his death in 1723 by his son Joseph Emanuel, though not to the full extent of the original design. The complex once housed up to 600 horses and 200 carriages. Following the end of the First World War and the establishment of the Republic of Austria, the stables lost their original purpose and much of their stock was auctioned off. In 1921 the area was repurposed as the Messepalast, a trade fair and exhibition complex operated by a city-owned company. From 1940 to 1945 the Messepalast hosted propaganda events of the Nazi regime, and after 1946 the Vienna Trade Fair resumed operations there. Plans to transform the area into a large cultural district were debated for many years. In 1983 a concept for a cultural forum was commissioned, and in 1985 the Messepalast was first used for the Wiener Festwochen, soon becoming their main venue. An architecture competition was launched in 1986, with Dieter Bogner and Dietmar Steiner developing a new conceptual and urbanistic approach for the second stage. The competition was conducted in 1989-90, with the content model being the Paris Centre Georges-Pompidou. The project by architects Ortner & Ortner (Laurids Ortner and Manfred Ortner) won by unanimous jury decision. The original plans included two towers, including a slender elliptical reading tower that was to become the landmark of the complex, but these provoked fierce public debates and protests, including a 1993 protest by more than 140 prominent art historians and architects such as Ieoh Ming Pei and Sir Ernst Gombrich. The renovation of the former court stables began in April 1998, and the MuseumsQuartier opened in stages in June and September 2001. The redevelopment was criticised by parts of Vienna's independent arts and media scene, notably concerning Public Netbase, an internet culture and media-art initiative that had operated at the former Messepalast and did not return after the renovation.

The complex houses major museums including the Leopold Museum, MUMOK (Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien) and the Kunsthalle Wien. The Leopold Museum holds the world's largest collection of paintings by Egon Schiele, along with masterpieces of the Vienna Secession, Viennese Modernism and Austrian Expressionism, plus exhibitions of contemporary art. MUMOK is dedicated to 20th and 21st-century art. The Kunsthalle Wien presents exhibitions of contemporary art. Other institutions include the Architekturzentrum Wien (AZW), devoted to contemporary architecture exhibitions; the ZOOM Kindermuseum for children; and the Tanzquartier Wien dance centre. The complex also hosts cultural manifestations such as the literature festival O-Töne and concerts including the Jazz Fest Wien.

The MuseumsQuartier combines the Baroque architecture of the former imperial stables with contemporary museum buildings. The contrast between the historic enclosure and the modern volumes of the Leopold Museum and MUMOK is a defining feature of the complex. The Leopold Museum features a white limestone facade, while MUMOK is clad in dark grey basalt. The architectural redevelopment was designed by Laurids and Manfred Ortner of Ortner & Ortner Baukunst. The new buildings were inserted into the large former stable complex, creating a sequence of courtyards, passages and cultural venues rather than a single museum building. Architectural writing on the MuseumsQuartier has emphasized the tension between preservation, monumental museum architecture and the creation of a publicly accessible urban interior. The central courtyards function as public urban spaces and are accessible without admission. The exterior facade of the MQ is the longest Baroque facade in the Austrian capital. The grounds include indoor and outdoor exhibition areas, performance spaces, museum buildings, cultural offices, studios, restaurants and cafés. In 2020 the MQ Libelle, a rooftop terrace and event space on the Leopold Museum, was opened.

The MuseumsQuartier is located in the 7th district of Vienna, Neubau, near the city centre. From the Ringstraße, it lies beyond the Maria-Theresien-Platz with the Kunsthistorisches Museum and Naturhistorisches Museum, along the so-called Zweierlinie and Mariahilfer Straße. The Hofburg with its museums adjoins at the Ringstraße, and the Volkstheater at Arthur-Schnitzler-Platz is a neighbour. The central courtyards are freely accessible to the public without admission and are used for events, seasonal programmes and as an urban gathering space. The complex is owned and operated by an entity in which the Austrian federal government, through the Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft und Forschung, originally held a 75 percent stake and the city of Vienna 25 percent. The development of the MuseumsQuartier has been closely associated with its successive managing directors: Wolfgang Waldner directed from 1999 to 2011, overseeing the opening and early consolidation; Christian Strasser served from 2011 to 2021, associated with further development as a public urban space; and Bettina Leidl became managing director on 14 February 2022. Shortly before Leidl's appointment, Leopold Museum director Hans-Peter Wipplinger criticised the management priorities of the MQ, arguing that the major institutions expected better maintenance and infrastructural support rather than additional event programming.