MAK – Museum für angewandte Kunst

About the museum

The museum was founded in 1863 at the instigation of the art historian Rudolf von Eitelberger as the Imperial and Royal Austrian Museum of Art and Industry. Its model was the South Kensington Museum in London, founded a few years earlier and now the Victoria and Albert Museum. The collection was meant to serve crafts and industry as a pattern collection and, at the same time, to train designers; the School of Arts and Crafts, today's University of Applied Arts, grew out of the museum.

After a transitional period in the Ballhaus on Ballhausplatz, the collection moved in 1871 into the new building by Heinrich von Ferstel on Stubenring – the first museum on the Ringstrasse, designed in the forms of the early Italian Renaissance. Between 1906 and 1909, the large exhibition halls on Weiskirchnerstrasse were added to plans by Ludwig Baumann. Around 1900 the museum was closely linked with the Secession and the Wiener Werkstätte; its archive and the world's largest museum collection of its objects are now housed at the MAK.

The collection comprises around 900,000 objects and printed works – furniture, glass, porcelain, silver, textiles, Asian art, design and contemporary art. Contemporary artists have designed the galleries, for example Tadashi Kawamata the Asian Art Gallery; since 2004, James Turrell's light installation has made the building's windows glow in colour. In 2026 the Vienna 1900 permanent collection was reinstalled together with the artist Markus Schinwald. As a federal museum, the MAK also runs the Geymüllerschlössel in Vienna-Pötzleinsdorf and is involved in exhibition venues in Brtnice (Czech Republic) and Los Angeles.

Highlights

• Permanent collection "Vienna 1900 – Everyday Life. Gesamtkunstwerk" with furniture by Hoffmann, Moser, Wagner and Loos
• Gustav Klimt's working drawings for the Stoclet Frieze
• The world's largest museum collection of the Wiener Werkstätte, including its archive
• Frankfurt Kitchen by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky in the MAK Design Lab
• Asian Art Gallery designed by Tadashi Kawamata
• Columned Hall in the Ferstel building on the Ringstrasse

Permanent exhibitions

• Wien 1900 – Alltag. Gesamtkunstwerk – Newly installed permanent collection, co-designed by the artist Markus Schinwald: ideas and designs of Viennese Modernism from the first Secession exhibition to 1945, from the Wiener Werkstätte to the Stoclet Frieze.
• Asien – Permanent collection of ceramics, porcelain and metalwork from China, Japan and Korea in an unusual wooden architecture by Tadashi Kawamata.
• MAK Design Lab – A tour of the role of design in climate, society and everyday life, featuring the Frankfurt Kitchen; closed for redesign from 2 November 2026 until probably 8 June 2027.

Founded

1863

Operated by

MAK – Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst (Bundesmuseum)

Director

Lilli Hollein

Admission & discounts

Online prices: regular €18, reduced €14.50; on site €19 and €15.50 respectively. Free admission with, among others, the Vienna Pass, Niederösterreich-CARD, Kulturpass ("Hunger auf Kunst und Kultur"), ICOM, Museumsbund Österreich, and for accompanying persons of school classes.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

All levels of the main building and the exhibition building can be reached by wheelchair-accessible lift; step-free entrance at the main entrance, Stubenring 5. Accessible toilets on levels 0 and −1. Disabled parking at Weiskirchnerstrasse 3 (opposite Stadtpark). Design Shop and restaurant on the ground floor, reachable without steps through the museum.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

Family tour Mini MAK and family workshop MAK4Family (each from age 4) as well as MAK Design Kids, a workshop for 8- to 12-year-olds without accompanying adults. Children and young people under 19 enter free of charge.

Getting there & parking

Bicycle racks in front of the entrance; the porter helps with breakdowns using a repair kit.

Amenities & dining

• Restaurant
• Museum shop
• Coat check
• Lockers
• Wi-Fi

Restaurant Salonplafond at the MAK (daily 10 am–midnight, from breakfast to drinks). MAK Design Shop on the ground floor. Cloakroom free of charge (unstaffed in summer), lockers against a €2 deposit; backpacks, umbrellas and large bags are not allowed in the exhibition. Free Wi-Fi throughout the building.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Corporate events

The Columned Hall, exhibition halls (around 2,700 m²), lecture hall and MAK Lounge can be hired for receptions, gala dinners, presentations, conferences and seminars. Apart from the lecture hall, the rooms are let without furniture and technical equipment; catering is freely selectable. Certified Green Location.

Plan your visit