Join us for a visit to the House of Strauss - a museum about the King of Waltz in the refurbished Casino Zögernitz, where Johann Strauss played himself.
The world has been dancing to the tunes of the Blue Danube Waltz since 1867 and we all know it as a permanent feature of every New Year’s Concert that the Vienna Philharmonic plays at the Musikverein concert house since forever with an audience of millions in 90 countries.
On 25 October 2023 - on what would have been the day of Johann Strauss’s 198th birthday - the new House of Strauss in Casino Zögernitz brought Strauss back to life in Vienna in a museum that covers both his person and music at an original venue. The interactive audio-visual experience highlights the history of the Strauss family through the entire 19th century, through social upheaval and the industrial revolution, from the booming capital of music to the whole world.
Ferdinand Zögernitz had a residence built in the Biedermeier style in Döbling. Later, he opened Casino Zögernitz there in 1837. With its “richly decorated hall” and beautiful garden, it became a popular meeting place for the Viennese society. In July the same year, the Österreichisches Morgenblatt noted that “Mr Zögernitz’s new establishment is nice, tasteful and proving rather popular. On the 11th of this month, Johann Strauss held a benefit concert there. The arrangement – brilliant; the audience – numerous and refined; the new waltz, entitled “Pilger am Rhein” – emotion and liveliness in triple time”.
In the summer of 1850 Johann Strauss organized a large Viennese folk festival in Casino Zögernitz with a triumphant title: "Magnificent scene from the residence". The young Strauss promised a new waltz as an attraction for the ball: "Johannis-Käferln". It is quite possible that the guests also got to see real Johannis-Käferln, because that is what they call glow worms in Vienna, and they can be seen very often and in large numbers on friendly summer nights, especially in the Döbling area. The Hall is the last remaining hall in its original form where all four Strauss composers - Johann Strauss the Elder, the Younger, Josef Strauss and Eduard Strauss once performed.
In May 1945 some 600 Soviet soldiers celebrated their victory here with garden parties. After Vienna was divided into four zones, the Americans held exuberant triumph celebrations in the casino, too.
After the withdrawal of the foreign occupants, the casino was brought back to life and the palace saw the return of the Viennese carnival, balls, wreaths, summer festivals, meetings of political parties, theatre and opera performances. Today the private museum and house of music is still owned by the Strauss family. Mr Eduard Strauss is the great-grandnephew of Johann Strauss committed to ensuring that his family's history and music receives the careful kitsch-free treatment it deserves.
There is a vast shop ranging from books on Vienna's history and the Strauß family and their music and a large selection of items for the home, be it for the coffee table of as gifts to the umpteenth cousin.
The Casino restaurant will be not only a place for a glass of wine after your tour but also for a serious lunch or even a dinner. Do not forget their garden section!
The museum is fully accessible with a lift to museum proper in the first floor.
If you are truly into the Strauss family, other pilgrimage sites for Strauss fans include the golden Strauss monument in the Stadtpark, the Strauss flat in Praterstraße and the Strauss tomb at the Central Cemetery.
Incidentally, there are already plans underway for a Johann Strauss year in Vienna in 2025, celebrating Strauss’s 200th birthday.
Döblinger Hauptstraße 76
1190 Vienna
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