Museums & Galleries in Austria

The museum in its present form is a child of enlightenment. Although there were art collections in early years, these were privately owned, however, and were not open to the public. Beginning in the 18th century, one began to slowly realize the importance of this form of education and opened more and more collections to a wider audience. In Austria this development began with Emperor Franz I. Stephan, Maria Theresia's husband. He appointed experts as curators for the imperial collections and also promoted the expansion of the collections through purchase and research expeditions.