Johann Strauß Junior was the man behind your ball room waltzes, including the one that everyone watches at the end of the Vienna Philharmonikers’ New Years concert.
It was in this flat in 1867 that Johann Jr. composed his most famous masterpiece but he was much more - a composer of over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles and also numerous operettas and even a ballet. Known as “The Waltz King”, Strauß was one of the major figures making Vienna the waltzing capital, not to mention the Dancing Congress of 1814-1815! Interestingly, our friend Johann Jr. was also a gambler, a billiards guy and a womanizer with four marriages!
The museum has a few personal items from the family, such as Johann's small wallet with his visiting card and the earrings of one of his wives. A dandy that he was, the museum has some nice pictures of his fashion statements.
A small hommage to the rest of the famous Strauß family includes the portraits of his parents, Johann Sr. and Maria Anna, née Streim.
Thanks to his extremely popular music, Strauß was not poor and you can see that in the big flat and pictures of his chalet outside Vienna. Over the years, the museum has lost his kitchen and servants’ quarters but the flat still gives you the splendour of a celebrity of the 19th century.
The museum is located conveniently almost opposite of the Nestroyplatz U-Bahn station. There is a loo that is definitely not from Johann’s times and also not meant for the handicapped or for changing the nappies of your baby but at least there is a lift, so the museum is accessible to everybody. There is no real museum shop so buy your "An der schönen blauen Donau" in town where you’ll probably get it cheaper anyway, and as there is no café, walk afterwards to the Prater amusement park for a Mélange coffee or a glass of something stronger.
Johan Strauß Wohnung
1020 Vienna, Praterstraße 54
https://www.wienmuseum.at/en/locations/johann-strauss-wohnung