The Austrian National Library is a hub of cultural activity and education, and the beauty of the building makes it a must to visit. The State Hall, or Prunksaal, was designed to impress 18th Century diplomats and scholars. With it’s 2.9 metre high central dome and its breathtaking paintings, it’s Baroque  at its finest.

As you come into the hall through the modern-day entrance wing, you’ll get your first glimpse of one of Daniel Gran’s famous frescoes. His most impressive fresco is perhaps the one on the ceiling of the central dome, where he painted the deification of Charles VI and the allegorical construction of the library. Gran’s paintings are one of the best parts of the hall, so be sure to look up. There are also beautiful marble statues and columns, carved wooden galleries with wooden staircases, and hundreds of thousands of beautiful, leather-bound books - and you can take photos of it all as long as you don’t use a flash. Don’t leave the hall without seeing the Venetian Baroque globes.

The UNESCO Memory of the World Programme has recorded some of the items kept in the library, like the Tabula Peutingeriana (a 12th Century street map showing the Roman Empire’s road network), and the Atlas Blaeu-Van der Hem, which dates from the 17th Century and contains 2,400 coloured maps, portraits, battle scenes, and plans of buildings. You can’t browse all the books, but there are display cabinets with open texts to give you an idea of what’s on the shelves. They are also in the process of digitalising hundreds of thousands of books which will be available to read online. The library contains remarkable collections, such as the Library of Prince Eugene of Savoy and the Slavic Literature Collection. It’s got four museums as well, which are, full of manuscripts, autographs, drawings, music manuscripts, and collections of maps and globes. There’s also the Image Archive and Graphic Collection, with portraits of the Habsburgs, post-World War Two photos of Austria, and Austrian billboards which date back to 1900.

Österreichische Nationalbibliothek

Josefsplatz 1, 1015 Vienna

Opening Hours

Every day, 9.00-21.00