Bezirksmuseum Alsergrund -A Great Bezirk with Nobles and Musicians

Join us for a visit to the Alsergrund museum with a history of over a century. Situated in the second floor of the District Hall of the 9th Bezirk, the collection presents a varied look in to the district including a special exhibition room, a "religious room" and memorials for the poets Erich Fried and Heimito von Doderer.

The prehistory of the Alsergrund District Museum goes back more than a century. A local teacher, Leopold Donatin published the first history book “The Alsergrund then and now” for children in the third grade of elementary school in 1903. It was reprinted in the 1920's as part of a museum being established but it was only in 1935 that the Alsergrund Workers' Education Association actually started planning a local museum. The museum opened in two rooms in the district head's building in 1959.

The then director founded the Alsergrund Gallery in 1970 to offer artists from the district free exhibition opportunities. The museum also sports the two great sons of the Bezirk, Heimito von Doderer and Erich Fried who have their own memorial rooms. Heimito von Doderer lived on Währinger Strasse and after his death, his widow donated a bunch of stuff from his estate. The translator and essayist Erich Fried was born in Alsergrund but a Jew, he fled in 1938 to exile in London became known as a poet and the best-selling German-language poet in the second half of the 21st century. The Alsergrund District Museum has a memorial with original furnishings from London.

The Renate Steinkellner collection has been on display in the pavilion in the inner courtyard since 2006, and World Savings Day gifts have been on display since 1957. The objects include funny, useful, but also superfluous items from everyday life, which also tell a design story from the post-war period to the present. The exhibition also features the legendary “Sparefroh”, which achieved cult status in the 1960s,.

Alsergrund was also a centre of book printing industry evidenced today by a platen printing press and a type case.

There is no museum shop nor café in the museum but you may find some cafés around. Ask the desk officer about the museums edition if you are interested in the history of the district in more detail.

The museum is almost accessible with a lift but unfortunately you need to take three fairly hight steps before getting to the lift.