The Wien Museum's collection of architecture documents key periods in the history of Viennese architecture in the shape of design drawings, plans, sketchbooks, photographs, and models. It currently contains over 35,000 objects, the most precious items including the Gothic stonemason's plans of St. Stephen’s Cathedral — which are regarded as masterpieces of medieval draftsmanship.
The historical focus of the architecture collection is the 19th and 20th centuries. Hence, Friedrich von Schmidt, the architect of St. Stephen’s cathedral and builder of the New City Hall, is just as prominently represented in the collection (with around 4,000 drawings, plans, and other objects from his estate) as the builder of the Votivkirche and the University of Vienna, Heinrich von Ferstel, whose bequest contains around 1,000 objects. The museum also possesses key works from the last of the "Barons of the Ringstraße", Carl von Hasenauer. Victor Luntz, whose bequest of over 5,000 objects forms one of the largest parts of the collection, was an important pupil and a successor of Schmidt as a Viennese "Gothic Master".
The highlight and heart of the architecture collection of the Wien Museum is the material that came from Otto Wagner's estate. The approximately 1,000 sheets of, mostly, presentation drawings and competition designs include many drawings of buildings and projects that feature some key works of fin-de-siècle European architecture.
Wagner’s conservative rival was Ludwig Baumann, whose estate was also acquired by the Wien Museum, as is that of Max von Ferstel. Friedrich Ohmann is represented in the museum with over 100 drawings of exceptional quality, while a donation from the Karl Schwanzer Archive in 2018 added one of the largest and most important holdings of 20th century Austrian architecture to the collection of the Wien Museum.
In addition to these drawings and plans, numerous historical architectural models and models specially built for exhibitions represent a further, particularly impressive, medium of architectural presentation. The most outstanding original models in the museum include Otto Wagner’s Academy of Fine Arts, Leopold Bauer’s National Bank, and the project for the development of the Donau City. Viennese architecture from the 20th and 21st centuries will be addressed even more strongly in the future in order to expand the collection up to the present day.
