Vienna Tourist Office

In 2012, Vienna celebrates the 150th birthday of Gustav Klimt, whose painting “The Kiss” is Vienna’s best known work of art and one of the most famous pictures in the world. Klimt and his contemporaries Josef Hoffmann, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka shaped fin de siècle Vienna like no one else. A number of the city’s most venerable museums will celebrate the occasion with special exhibitions. It is safe to say that there have never been as many Klimts on show in Vienna as there will be in 2012.

Depending on the time of year, round out your Vienna-art experience by attending one of the more than 400 balls during carnival season, enjoy outstanding classical music performances at the Vienna Festival Weeks, sample the various young wines which go on sale at the city’s Heurigen (wine taverns) in the fall, or stroll through the many charming Christmas Markets during the holiday season.

The Imperial Palace and Schönbrunn palace stand out among all of the city’s grand buildings as bastions of imperial power. The Hofburg is home to the Sisi Museum and the Imperial Treasury, which are brimming with unusual exhibits from the days of the Habsburg Empire. By contrast, the city today is a hot-spot of modern design: In the last ten years, a lively and internationally renowned product design scene has evolved in Vienna. Trace the fascinating history of design in Vienna right back to its origins at the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) or at the Leopold Museum.

For more great reasons to visit Vienna, go to www.vienna.info and discover all that Vienna has to offer.