Museum of Fine Arts

The Museum of Fine Arts (the Kunsthistorisches Museum) in Vienna is considered Europe’s largest museum of fine arts. Franz Joseph I of Austria had it built in the 19th century according to plans designed by architect Gottfried Semper and it was intended to be connected with the opposite Natural History Museum. Both buildings were built in neo-Renaissance style. The extensive collections of the museum contain artefacts spanning seven thousand years and are deposited in several buildings. The main and most important collections of the museum are located in the building opposite the Hofburg Palace on Maria Theresa Square and contain the Picture Gallery, the Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities, the Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection and the Coin Cabinet. Other collections are housed in the Hofburg Palace and include the Imperial Treasury with the Crown Jewels of the Holy Roman Empire, the Imperial Crown Jewels of Austria and also the Insignia of the Kingdom of Bohemia (the original Gothic sceptre and gold orb from the times of Charles IV). Other collections are showcased in the Neue Burg building, officially known as the Ephesus Museum, where visitors can see the Collection of Ancient Musical Instruments, the Collection of Arms and Armours and the Archive. The Museum of Fine Arts also manages the Museum of Ethnology, the Austrian Theatre Museum in the Palais Lobkowitz and the Lipizzaner Museum in the Stallbrug.