iState Hall of the Austrian National Library (Prunksaal)Innere Stadt
The Global Power of Love. A Journey Through the Centuries
Love across 2,000 years in the library's collections, from ancient creation myths and medieval love songs to Mozart, Schubert, Goethe and Bachmann.
More in Vienna
A woman with a fringe walks a red heart on a leash. That's Friederike Mayröcker's drawing "an die Kandare genommen", and her partner Ernst Jandl answers with "the brain & the heart", where a tongue and mouth join the two.
About 100 objects from the Library's holdings fill the Prunksaal's cases, grouped by theme: creation myths (a 16th-century Quran, Plato, Freud), unreachable ideals (Dante's Beatrice, Dulcinea), power, excess, grief and charity. There's a Decameron with risqué illustrations and a waltz Schnitzler composed himself. You can use the listening stations and leave your own love message at another. Curator Katharina Kaska notes that Maria Theresia married for love but allowed it to only one of her 16 children.
APA's critic said the show can't compete with the hall itself, and found the old vitrines and panels dated. Entry is the €12 State Hall ticket, free under 19, open until 21:00 on Thursdays. It closes 1 November; the hall shuts early on 21 October (14:00) and 30 October (15:00).
Look for
Mayröcker's heart on a leash
Look for a woman with a fringe walking a red heart on a leash, drawn in ballpoint and felt-tip.
Jandl's "the brain & the heart"
Ernst Jandl's sheet links brain and heart through a tongue and a mouth.
The wedding of Maria Theresia, 1736
A broadsheet engraving packs the church ceremony, the banquet and two oval portraits of the bride and groom onto one sheet.
Narcissus at the water, 1655
In Michel de Marolles' engraving a young man stares at his reflection while a winged putto with a bow stands beside him.
The creation of Eve, Utrecht, about 1470
Two coloured miniatures in a Speculum humanae salvationis show a heavenly scene with angels and Eve being drawn from Adam's side.
Good for
- Dates
- Evening Visits
- Nerding Out
Skip if
You want a modern, multimedia show: APA's critic found old display cases and dated wall panels.
With kids
Under-19s enter free.
Also at State Hall of the Austrian National Library (Prunksaal)
On now nearby
Nearby
Image credits
8
- The Global Power of Love. A Journey Through the CenturiesÖsterreichische Nationalbibliothek
- Otto Meets AlbertinaCourtesy of Albertina
- Picasso - Bacon: What It Feels Like to Be Human© Succession Picasso / Bildrecht, Vienna 2026, © Foto: bpk/Nationalgalerie, SMB, Museum Berggruen/ Jens Ziehe
- Her Story: Women Artists of the AlbertinaCourtesy of Albertina
- State Hall of the Austrian National Library (Prunksaal)Mirej / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT
- Theatermuseum (Palais Lobkowitz)Gryffindor / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5
- AlbertinaC.Stadler/Bwag, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Jewish Museum Vienna (Jüdisches Museum Wien)Sonja Bachmayer / Jewish Museum Vienna, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0