Museumsquartier

Museum Quarter, cultural centre for contemporary art with an area of 45,000 m² on the site of the former Vienna court stables (Hofstallungen) in the vicinity of the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Museum of Natural History. In 1991 a contest among architects was carried out for this purpose, which was won by L. Ortner. The Museum Quarter comprises an art gallery and a multi-purpose hall as well as numerous other cultural facilities. The R. Leopold Collection, with works of art from the turn of the century and from the classical Modern movement as well as the Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation Vienna are to be transferred to the Museum Quarter. Building began in 1998 and was completed in the spring of 2001. The court stables were built 1719-1723 after plans by J. B. Fischer von Erlach and were used for fairs and exhibitions from 1921-1995 (thus for decades referred to as "Messepalast" - "Exhibition palace").