Austrian Theatre Museum, Theatre museum in Palais Lobkowitz, Vienna, Austria.
The Austrian Theatre Museum is housed within the historic Palais Lobkowitz and displays costumes, stage models, photographs, and theatrical materials spanning different periods. The rooms of the palace provide a historical setting where exhibitions about stage art and theatrical creation are presented.
The theatre collection of the Austrian National Library became independent in 1922 under Joseph Gregor; an exhibition that year drew Hugo Thimig's private collection. The museum itself opened in 1975 in the Hanuschhof, and on 26 October 1991 it moved to the Palais Lobkowitz. In 2001 it joined the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
The museum's archive holds the Hermann Bahr and Anna Bahr-Mildenburg bequest, the largest Viennese Modernism collection in Austria, alongside papers of Alfred Roller, Max Reinhardt and Heinrich Schnitzler. Stefan Zweig's autographs of poets and playwrights came to the museum in 1938, before his flight from the Nazis. The study library keeps some 100,000 books, periodicals, stage manuscripts and theatre bills, most still owned by the Austrian National Library on permanent loan.
The museum is open during morning and afternoon hours on most days and is fully accessible for wheelchair users. The visit pairs well with other cultural sites nearby, as the palace is located in a central area of the city.
The Eroica Hall in the palace commemorates the premiere of Beethoven's Third Symphony and preserves the building's connection to major musical events. Visitors today can experience this historical context within the rooms themselves while exploring the theatre exhibitions.
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