Museum Liaunig

About the museum

The museum goes back to the industrialist and art collector Herbert W. Liaunig, who over decades assembled one of the most comprehensive collections of Austrian art after 1945. For it, he had the Viennese architecture team querkraft build a structure in the hillside landscape above the Drava near Neuhaus/Suha, which opened in 2008. Only the elongated gallery wing, lit from above by skylights and with two viewing terraces, is visible; most of the building lies underground. The building received the Austrian Museum Prize in 2011 and has been a listed monument since 2012.

After a year of renovation, the museum reopened in expanded form at the end of April 2015: a triangular space for special exhibitions with an atrium, two underground halls for glass and portrait miniatures, and a round sculpture depot were added. Light installations by Brigitte Kowanz and Esther Stocker shape the connecting corridors. Since 2018, Liaunig's son Peter Liaunig has run the museum.

The collection of contemporary art includes painting, graphic art and sculpture by artists such as Arnulf Rainer, Markus Prachensky, Fritz Wotruba, Bruno Gironcoli and Joannis Avramidis, complemented by international positions such as Tony Cragg and Pierre Soulages. The museum also shows historical collections: around 600 gold objects of the West African Akan, European glass from 1500 to 1850, portrait miniatures, African glass bead art and silver. A sculpture park with works by Austrian and international sculptors rounds off the tour.

Highlights

• Architecture by querkraft, awarded the Austrian Museum Prize
• Gallery wing about 160 m long for painting and sculpture
• “The Gold of the Akan” – one of the largest collections of its kind in the world
• European glass from the Renaissance to the Biedermeier period
• Portrait miniatures in a dedicated landscape of display cases
• Sculpture park with works by Wotruba, Cragg and Pillhofer

Permanent exhibitions

• Das Gold der Akan – Around 600 pieces of jewellery and ritual objects made of gold, mainly of the Ashanti, Baule and Fante from Ghana and Ivory Coast, in a dedicated underground annex.
• Gläser von 1500 bis 1850 – A selection of 120 glass pieces tracing European glass art from Venice around 1500 to the engravers of the Biedermeier period.
• Portraitminiaturen – Around 100 hand-painted miniature portraits from the Liaunig collection, since 2026 with newly acquired pieces not previously shown.

Founded

2008

Operated by

HL Museumsverwaltung GmbH

Director

Elisabeth Wassertheurer (Museumsleitung)

Admission & discounts

The ticket is valid for all exhibitions and the sculpture park. Discount with the Ö1 Club card. The museum is not a partner of the Kärnten Card.

Accessibility

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

All exhibition areas are accessible without barriers; the sculpture park can only be reached via steps.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

By car from Vienna/Graz via the A2, exit St. Andrä, via St. Paul and Lavamünd to Neuhaus; from Klagenfurt via the A2, exit Griffen, towards Bleiburg and at the roundabout before Bleiburg towards Neuhaus. Discounted GO-Mobil tickets for Lavamünd are available at the museum ticket desk.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop

Museum café in the foyer with a terrace (also accessible without a ticket), museum shop in the foyer. Catering for groups on request.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit