Come with me to my local District Museum in Vienna. The museum is a treasure for those wishing to dive into how villages developed in Vienna and became one of the biggest cities in Europe.
There is a local Bezirksmuseum in each of the 23 districts in Vienna and each and every one a bit different and charming in their own way but they definitely look all like a good old-fashioned museum, no needless modern tricks here! We start our journey in the 19th Bezirk which is our own home base in Vienna. The museum is a bit shabby and looks perhaps a bit worn but that only adds a nice human touch to the museum. It is only open on Wednesday mornings and Saturday afternoons so make you travel plans accordingly! When our team went there on a sunny Wednesday morning, three lovely old ladies had just opened the main door for us to be their first guests.
The museum documents the known history of Döbling in northwestern Vienna since the oldest geological prehistory all the way to modern life in the 20th century featuring the two Turkish sieges, the borders of the district and the development of the place names. One room is dedicated to transport in Döbling and another to local industrial development. The last room highlights Döbling’s famous boys and girls, the delightful Heurige restaurants (Döbling is really the home of Heurigen) and a couple of wealthy families that have had an impact on local development.
There are a couple of rooms on the ground floor that are used for local cultural events. Why don't you organize your next Vienna gathering in Döbling? In spring 2022, there was an interesting temporary exhibition on the development of medecine and medical services in Döbling. Just have a look how nurses used to dress! Definitely worth visiting.
There is no real museum shop but you can buy a couple of nice books about the local history in the museum, such as an edition of the thirty or so Döbliner Museumblätter and some books on the temporary exhibition. There is a decent loo next to the rooms for the temporary shows but as the main museum is in the second floor, this is not a place to come in a wheel chair or with a pram.
There is no cafe either but if you come in the summer, take some drinks and snacks with you and sit down for a while in the adjacent Wertheimsteinpark (just go there from the museum yard) which is a cool place to rest after the museum before your next Vienna endeavour. Next to the museum, there is Beethoven’s Eroicahaus but the museum is currently closed but check the other Beethoven museums in our series.
Bezirksmuseum 19. Döbling
Döblinger Hauptstrasse 96, 1190 Vienna
https://www.bezirksmuseum.at
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