New Prater Museum Opens at the Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel

(eap) The Wurstelprater has been one of Vienna’s most popular leisure attractions for over 250 years. Last Friday, March 15, the new Pratermuseum, which is now located right in the center of the amusement park by the Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel, was opened. Compared to the old Pratermuseum in the Planetarium, the museum now has twice the space available, which is around 400 square meters. Visitors will find a new permanent exhibition on three floors, curated by Susanne Winkler and Werner Michael. The exhibition tells the story of the Prater, its historical depth and the diversity of its uses with well-known and new objects such as the life-size brown bear from the shooting gallery, the naked Venus from the wax museum and the matchmaking machine from around 1900. In several areas, the new permanent exhibition also presents the Prater as a place where the cultural, social and political issues of the time were addressed in different ways.

“It’s not just the trees that are blooming in the Prater. No, the Viennese museum landscape is also blossoming vigorously here and is being enriched by another precious flower. From today, the new Pratermuseum presents the history of this special place of longing and reflects its true character – as a place of togetherness, as a place for everyone,” says Vienna’s Mayor Michael Ludwig.

v.l.n.r.: Bürgermeister Michael Ludwig, Stadträtin für Kultur und Wissenschaft Veronica Kaup-Hasler & Matti Bunzl, Direktion Wien Museum. © Photo: Stadt Wien / Christian Jobst

“The new Pratermuseum building and the creation of a new permanent exhibition were a project close to my heart. I would like to thank the many employees who made it possible, and especially Silvia Lang, President of the Vienna Prater Association. It was her tireless efforts over many years that made the construction project possible,” says Matti Bunzl, Director of the Wien Museum.

The Prater families made a significant contribution to the launch of a new, modern Prater Museum in 2021. Following the municipal council’s decision in June and the start of construction in autumn 2022, the building was handed over by the contractor a year later and work began on the interior fit-out and construction of the new permanent exhibition. The architectural firm Michael Wallraff ZT and the construction company Granit-Bau and Prameshuber Holzbau were responsible for the construction of the building, in which 4.1 million euros were invested. ■