Vienna Photos: Palais Liechtenstein Museum, Vienna

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The Palais Liechtenstein is a late-Baroque palace in the 9th district of Vienna. Just like Palais Trautson (which you saw a few pictures earlier), it is a typical building of the genre of "Gartenpalais" (Garden Palaces). The Princes of Liechtenstein were among the highest-ranking nobility in the Habsburg Empire and immensely rich.

Several family members were keen art collectors and the current Prince of Liechtenstein - despite of not being Austrian in the strict sense of the world, the sovereign of Liechtenstein still spend a fair amount of time in Vienna - opened parts of the collection to the general public. The picture above shows the lower palace of Palais Liechtenstein; similar to the Belvedere (or many other garden palais), it comprises of two buildings.

The one on the picture houses a library and the museum. It was refurbished in 2004 and is now Vienna′s most important private museum. The collection continues to grow and even though most of it is in Vaduz (the "capital" of Liechtenstein), the parts that can be seen in Vienna are very impressive. The focus of the collection - even the newly acquired pieces - lies on Baroque art, which matches well with the setting of Palais Liechtenstein. I have lived around the corner of the palais, by the way.