Military History Museum

The Vienna Museum of Military History (Heeresgeschichtliches Museum – Militärhistorisches Institut, abbreviated HGM) is the Austrian Federal Army’s foremost military research institute and is part of the Federal Ministry of Defense and Sports.It covers the history of Austrian armed forces from the foundation of the standing army until the middle of the twentieth century via exhibitions.Weapons and armor, tanks, military aircraft, uniforms, sculptures, paintings and blueprints, flags, medals; liners, monitors, and other battleship models, components, written papers, and other museum artifacts are among its holdings.The battle trophies, weapons, artifacts, papers, and other material relics amassed throughout the ages in the emperor’s treasury, the army’s armory, and the ruler’s wider environment form the foundation of the museum collection.When a museum open to the public was established in the middle of the nineteenth century, a large-scale social collaboration and a flood of interesting donations enriched the material, resulting in one of the world’s leading exhibition spaces on the subject and Austria’s first collection housed in a building specifically designed for museum purposes.

Both the collections and the buildings themselves sustained significant damage during both the Second World War and the following occupation.The museum reopened to the public in 1955, and the collection was thematically ordered, scientifically processed, and displayed in line with contemporary ideas after 1965.The current exhibition area dealing with the topic of the First World War debuted in 2014, in time for the 100th anniversary of the commencement of the First World War and the murder in Sarajevo.The museum celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2016.During this time, the museum’s material collection grew from 8,000 to almost 1,200,000 objects, while the number of yearly visitors grew from 5,307 to 220,000.

Vienna, Austria