das museum der moderne - the museum of modern art in the city of salzburg - one museum - two buildings
the museum of modern art comprises two buildings, located on spectacular sites:
mdm-rupertinum, the rupertinum, situated in the old town: a baroque building for new artistic concepts.
mdm-moenchsberg - the museum on the mountain mönchsberg houses modern art in a contemporary setting.
the rupertinum is a two-minute walk away from the art hotel blaue gans. the same applies to the museum of modern art where you can take the convenient lift to get there. tickets for the lift are available at the reception.
mdm mönchsberg - the museum of modern art on the mönchsberg is situated on an exposed place high above the old town of salzburg. featuring new and modern architecture, it houses exhibitions on a large scale and international collections of art. it also provides the perfect setting for its own comprehensive art collection as well as for comprehensive temporary exhibitions of international, contemporary art. the museum of modern art, the rupertinum, a baroque building, was originally constructed for the archbishops of salzburg. situated in the immediate vicinity of the festival hall and the cathedral, it was adapted for the presentation of modern art.
both buildings of the museum of modern art provide around 3,000 square metres of exhibition space for thematic and monographic exhibitions of art of the 20th and 21st century, as well as for presentations of graphic arts and photography.the history of the museum of modern art in salzburg
mdm moenchsberg - the idea of founding a museum for modern art and art collections is attributed to the initiative of the salzburg-based art dealer friedrich welz who assigned the major part of his private collection to the province of salzburg. thanks to his personal friendship with oskar kokoschka, a considerable number of oeuvres of great austrian expressionists were added to the rupertinum collection.since 1983 the rupertinum as the salzburg museum for modern art and graphic art collections has been open to the public. the founding director otto breicha also incorporated into the museum the austrian photo gallery which is considered to be the most important collection of contemporary austrian photography.
with the opening of the museum of modern art, which is perched on top of the mönchsberg mountain, in october 2004, the former collection of the province of salzburg, the rupertinum, was integrated into the concept of the museum of modern art in salzburg. both museums are managed in the form of one institution which was transformed into a private limited liability company by the previous managing director agnes husslein arco. in january 2006 toni stoos took over as managing director of the museum of modern art.
due to the enlargement of the exhibition space by almost ten times the original space and the division of the displayed artwork between two buildings, the requirement as regards exhibitions and the collections of art were adapted to international standards. the local museum in the stylish mediaeval building that housed exquisite exhibitions of mostly graphic artwork of the classic modern art developed into an international spectacular institution featuring spacious rooms and presentation facilities for large-scale formats, installation art, media art and comprehensive collection highlights.
the museum of modern art in salzburg
perched on top of the steep rock of the mönchsberg mountain, at a distance of sixty metres above the square anton-neumayr-platz, the café winkler was one of the main features of the city for decades. after the casino had been moved to the outskirts of the city of salzburg, to the baroque castle kleßheim, the café winkler stood empty for many years. as a consequence, this landmark, which provided a striking contrast to the medieval fortress, lost its splendour.in 1998 an international architectural competition for the construction of a museum on the mönchsberg mountain was initiated. under the chairmanship of the swiss luigi snozzi, a jury comprising of eleven experts, chose the project of the munich-based architect friedrich hoff zwink out of 145 submissions.
the deciding factor was in particular the design's sensitive approach to the prominent appearance of the water tower, which dates back to the 19th century: the glass-covered stairways offer a good view of the historic building. in the space of three and a half years a museum was built that provides a wide variety of possibilities for the most diverse exhibition scales on four floors.
the entire façade was clad with marble from the nearby untersberg mountain and structured by vertical joints. not only do they have a function as regards air-conditioning, but they can also be interpreted as a reference to the city of salzburg: the system of notation of certain arias from mozart's opera "don giovanni" is imprinted on the façade in the form of rhythmically set vents by means of a computer program that was employed here for the first time.
with a generously structured space of 2.300 m², the interior fully satisfies the various requirements for exhibitions of artworks from the 20th and 21st century.
access to the open-plan rooms on the four levels is provided by a spacious staircase and a lift.
