Located south of the historic center, the Belvedere Museum is an essential stop for anyone visiting Vienna. Indeed, the building is not only one of the masterpieces of Austrian Baroque architecture but also one of the most beautiful princely residences in Europe.
And if that were not enough, it houses the nation’s leading collection of artworks by artists like Klimt, Schiele and Kokoschka.
Brief historical background
The area consists of two opposing palaces– the Upper Belvedere and the Lower Belvedere – separated by Italian-style terraced gardens that offer a splendid view of Vienna skyline.
It was Prince Eugene of Savoy who wanted such a complex to be built. Works under the architect Hildebrandt began in 1712 and the palace was completed five years later. The Lower Belvedere housed the prince’s residence while the Upper Belvedere served for representation.
How to get to Belvedere Museum
Shifted about 2.5 kilometers south of St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Belvedere Castle – Schloss Belvedere in German – is conveniently accessible by public transport, particularly by trains on the S1 line from Vienna Central Station (Quartier Belvedere stop) or by tram line D.
Otherwise, the nearest subway stop is Südtiroler Platz-Hauptbanhof, about a 15-minute walk away.
Opening times
The Upper Belvedere Museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with last admission allowed at 5 p.m. The indoor café-bar, Schlosscafé, also follows the same hours.
The Lower Belvedere Museum opens daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with last admission allowed at 5 p.m. The Parkcafé bar opens with the same hours.
Finally, the Belvedere 21 Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Thursdays it closes at 9 p.m. It opens on Mondays only on holidays. The in-house café follows the same hours except for holiday Mondays where it is closed.
Ticket prices
I visited only the Upper Belvedere, deciding to buy online tickets to skip the queue at the entrance.
This choice proved to be successful and advantageous for two reasons:
- online rates are cheaper;
- I secured a time slot with guaranteed entry.
The rates shown below are current as of October 2024.
The cost of admission tickets for the Upper Belvedere is:
- 17.50 € for adults (20 € if purchased at the ticket office);
- 14.10 € for over-65s and students under 26 (16.50 € at the ticket office);
- free for those under 19 years of age.
Lower Belvedere prices are:
- 14.60 € for adults (17 € if purchased at the ticket office);
- 10.90 € for over 65s and students under 26 (12.50 € at the ticket office);
- free of charge for those under 19 years of age.
Finally, rates for Belvedere 21:
- 9.30 € for adults (11 € if purchased at the ticket office);
- 6.90 € for over 65s and students under 26 (8 € at the ticket office);
- free for those under 19 years of age.
Guide to buy Belvedere Museum online tickets
As I wrote earlier, I was only able to visit the Upper Belvedere Museum and I bought the entrance ticket at home, the day before I flew to Vienna.
In addition to saving about 15 % compared to the full price I would have paid at the ticket office, in this way I was able to select the desired time slot with guaranteed entry and skip-the-line.
To do this, I went to GetYourGuide website (partner of Belvedere Museum) and all I needed to do were a few simple steps:
- select number and type of participants;
- choose the date of the visit and then the entrance time from those available in the list;
- finalize the purchase by entering personal data and payment details;
- at the end I received the confirmation email with the possibility to print the reservation.
I point out that cancellation is free of charge if done up to 24 hours before the day of the visit. Besides that, you do not need the paper ticket as you can simply show the voucher directly from your smartphone.
On the day of the visit there was no need to go through the ticket office, where by the way there were already several people waiting, but I went straight to the entrance and I entered at 10:30 a.m. The time slot with guaranteed priority entry is valid for 15 minutes.
Holders of the Vienna Pass, the tourist card that includes free access to all of the city’s attractions, do not need to book any time slot for the visit but simply show up directly at the entrance showing the card to the staff.
Once inside the museum there is no time limit. The visit lasts about two hours. The audio guide is not included and can be rented for €5 near the cloakroom.
To fully realize the value of having bought the entrance ticket in advance, however, I had to wait until the exit. In fact, at noon I counted roughly a hundred people queuing outside the building under the rain….
What’s to see in the Upper Belvedere Museum
The Upper Belvedere Museum houses more than 400 masterpieces that witness over 800 years of art history and its connection to the evolution of society.
Among the artists featured are Monet, Van Gogh, Rodin and Klimt, whose 24 works are on display thus making up his largest collection in the world.
Ground Floor
After admiring some of the most striking rooms of the Baroque palace (where some of the temporary exhibitions are held), I move on to medieval art section.
The oldest works on display at the Upper Belvedere cover a period from the late 12th century to about 1600 and show the transition from Romanesque to Gothic art until the dawn of the Renaissance. In this era, art ceases to be a mere representation of a religious message and becomes an expression of the artist’s sensibility, which from now on will gain ever greater visibility.
First Floor
The elegant staircase leads to Marble Hall, the largest and most significant room in Prince Eugene’s estate and one that still retains all its original splendor.
In addition, the hall has considerable historical significance since it was here, on May 15th 1955, that the foreign ministers of Austria, France, United Kingdom, United States and Soviet Union signed the Austrian State Treaty by which the nation was once again free, sovereign and democratic.
The visit continues with Baroque art (1600-1800), highlighting in particular how the depiction of landscapes and moments of everyday life became progressively more realistic, leaving in the background the idealization that until then characterized almost all artistic productions.
Next rooms deal with the profound change in art that takes place from the end of the 18th century.
Events of the past are no longer the protagonists of the paintings, replaced instead by society and its sharp contrasts. At the same time, the depiction of nature and especially mountains becomes an increasingly recurring theme. Artists also dwell on the scientific discoveries of the time while reflecting on the charm of the places and monuments of the ancient monto.
In this way, a new interest in the forms of classical antiquity leads to the simple and defined lines of Neoclassicism which permanently replaced the opulent Baroque style.
The beginning of the 19th century is marked by the Napoleonic Wars and their strong impact on both European geopolitical balances and the daily lives of citizens. The paintings, rather than dwelling on the horrors of the conflicts, prefer the celebration of the man-hero who takes on the task of liberating the homeland.
In this regard, maximum example is Jacques-Louis David and his iconic “Bonaparte Crosses the Alps”, an equestrian portrait of the French leader as he crosses the Great St. Bernard Pass during the second Italian campaign.
Following the fall of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna in 1814-1815 primarily determined the reorganization of Europe but, at the same time, made the Austrian capital the political center of the old continent.
Industrial development and the flourishing of commerce especially favored the rise of the bourgeois class, which commissioned the artists of the time to portray them to proudly display the new status quo they had achieved.
Another artistic strand generated in the 1830s is “Biedermeier Realism” and concerns the most faithful depiction of natural landscapes around Vienna.
One of the greatest examples is Thomas Ender’s painting of the Pasterze glacier at the foot of the Großglockner, within the Hohe Tauern National Park. It is, moreover, the first Austrian work focusing on high-altitude alpine landscapes.
Since the second half of the 19th century, Vienna has been the protagonist of major transformations and expansions at the urban level including the development of the subway network, the demolition of the city walls, and the construction of the Ringstrasse overlooked by a series of imposing buildings in revivalist styles.
Such a dynamic and lively context fostered the emergence of different artistic currents in search of their own identity and often at odds with traditional styles. This led in 1897 to the so-called “Vienna Secession,” an autonomous association comprising 19 members including architects and painters and led by Gustav Klimt. Its purpose is to promote artistic exchange including by organizing exhibition spaces dedicated to the international avant-garde.
The Klimt Collection
The heart of the Upper Belvedere is Klimt’s collection of 24 works, the largest in the world. There is, of course, “The Kiss” (1908-1909), easily spotted given the gathering of people gathered around the painting.
Photography is permitted but without flash. The same rule applies to the other rooms of the Belvedere. There are some works for which it is forbidden to do so and it is indicated in the tag hanging on the wall.
“The Kiss” – Der Kuss in German – was created by Klimt at the height of his ‘golden age’ and depicts two lovers who seem to merge, to the point that only the different textures of their clothes allow them to be distinguished.
Klimt is known to be the “painter of women,” and indeed his commissioned portraits depict members of the Viennese upper middle class, such as in the work “Judith” (1901), where the female face is that of Adele Bloch-Bauer.
Second Floor
The last rooms are reserved for the avant-garde movements of the twentieth century, highlighting the artists’ response to the profound changes in society caused by industrialization, technological development, the two World Wars, and their short and long-term consequences.
In general, works show a new vision of reality from their authors. Everyday life now appears distorted, and Freud’s theories of the unconscious have considerable influence on the representation of individuals.
The visit ends again on the ground floor since the area concerning the art movements of the 1960s and 1970s has been set up just to the side of the large central staircase.
