Neue Burg Museums in Vienna, the Aztec Feather Headdress, Imperial Armour and Ephesos Under One Roof
The Neue Burg was meant to be the grandest wing of the Hofburg, half of an imperial forum on Heldenplatz. The empire ended before it was used as a palace. Instead it filled up with museums and library rooms, and the museums behind its curved façade are quiet enough that you'll often have whole rooms to yourself.
Four of them belong to the Kunsthistorisches Museum group: the Weltmuseum Wien, the Imperial Armoury, the Collection of Historic Musical Instruments and the Ephesos Museum. A fifth, the Haus der Geschichte Österreich, Austria's museum of its own modern history, is on its way out.
Photo: Virtual Travel Guide
You enter from Heldenplatz and climb the monumental staircase, which is worth the visit on its own.
Photo: Jebulon, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Weltmuseum Wien
Vienna's museum of world cultures opened here as the Museum of Ethnology in 1928, took its present name in 2013 and reopened after a long renovation on 25 October 2017.
Photo: Virtual Travel Guide
Its most famous object is the penacho, a Mexican feather headdress from around 1515, made of quetzal, cotinga, spoonbill and other feathers with more than a thousand small gold plates. For centuries it was called Montezuma's crown. There's no evidence he wore it, and it was more likely a priest's headdress. It was first recorded in 1596 in the collection of Archduke Ferdinand II at Ambras Castle near Innsbruck. Mexico asked to borrow it in 2021 and Austria said no. A joint Mexican and Austrian study in 2010 to 2012 concluded it was too fragile to travel, because the vibration of transport would damage it. It has its own case in the Mesoamerica rooms.
Imperial Armoury
The Weltmuseum ticket also covers two KHM collections on the floors around it. The first is the Imperial Armoury, the Hofjagd- und Rüstkammer, one of the leading collections of arms and armour in the world. Its roots are the "armoury of heroes" Archduke Ferdinand II built at Ambras in the 16th century. Riders in full armour line the long galleries on life-size horses, from Maximilian I's Gothic steel to the tournament hall and Ferdinand's Eagle Garniture.
Photo: Virtual Travel Guide
It deserves its own visit, and its own post: the Imperial Armoury room by room.
Historic instruments
The Collection of Historic Musical Instruments is the second, on the same ticket. It has been in the Neue Burg since 1916, in twelve rooms since 1993. It has pianos played by Mozart, Clara Schumann, Brahms and Liszt, and more than 80 Renaissance instruments from Ambras.
Ephesos Museum
In 1978 the KHM opened a museum for its finds from Ephesus, the Greek and Roman city on Turkey's west coast that Austrian archaeologists have excavated since the 1890s. The big pieces are the reliefs of the Parthian Monument, an Amazon from the altar of the Temple of Artemis, and a bronze athlete. Until 29 March 2027 a special exhibition, "Crime Scene Ephesus", looks at the death of Cleopatra's sister Arsinoë IV, who was killed there.
Haus der Geschichte Österreich
Austria's museum of contemporary history opened in the Neue Burg in 2018, on the floors that include the balcony from which Hitler spoke in March 1938. In January 2026 the culture minister confirmed it will move to a new timber building in the MuseumsQuartier, aimed at autumn 2028. Until then it stays put. The balcony, the Altan, is meant to become a place for teaching democracy once the museum leaves.
Tickets and hours, as of October 2026
- Weltmuseum, Armoury and instruments: one ticket, adults €16, reduced €12, under 19 free. Closed Monday (open on Monday holidays such as 26 October). Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, Tuesday to 21:00.
- Haus der Geschichte: adults €10, under 19 free. Closed Monday. Free on 26 October 2026 and 10 December 2026, and on Thursdays from 18:00. The ticket also covers the Ephesos Museum.
The 7 Museums Pass, €53 for a year, covers the Weltmuseum ticket along with the Treasury, the Kunsthistorisches Museum across the Ring and the rest of the KHM group.
There's a platform lift at the main entrance and wheelchairs to reserve a day ahead.
Photo: Virtual Travel Guide