The cartography collection consists of around 5,000 city and district maps as well as general panoramic views from the 15th to the mid-20th centuries.
Some of the most important pieces of evidence from the early days of Viennese cartography are held in the museum, including the only remaining copy of the oldest-known city map of Vienna — the "Albertinischer Plan" (Albertinian Plan) from the second half of the 15th century (original ca. 1421/22). Another rarity is a panorama of the city produced during the first Ottoman siege (1529) by Niklas Meldemann, who also integrates scenes from the battlefield into his central bird’s eye view of Vienna.
The two maps from Augustin Hirschvogel and Bonifaz Wolmuet from 1547 are important in another regard: They resulted from the first geometrical record of the city and are the earliest known floor plans of Vienna.
The Wien Museum is also home to one of the few remaining examples of Hoefnagel’s view of the city from 1609, which is on permanent loan to the collection. Regarded as the oldest topographically reliable image of the city, this also possesses huge artistic value and is one of the most popular historical depictions of Vienna. Another exceptional document is the print version of the large-format panoramic view of the city and its suburbs produced by Joseph Daniel von Huber (1769-73).
The collection's current activities are focused on thematic cartography from the period following the First World War and the years after 1945.
