{"id":21661,"date":"2020-01-17T05:08:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-17T04:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=21661"},"modified":"2026-02-12T20:13:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T19:13:50","slug":"globe-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/globe-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"The Globe Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><a href=\"#tickets\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/globeesperantotickets.jpg\" alt=\"Museum sign\" class=\"wp-image-79658\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Flick a finger to travel from Aberdeen to Adelaide. But globes offer more than a geographical overview of our little planet. The Globe Museum introduces the art and science of these magical spheres, with some magnificent examples to admire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>(Obviously) lots of globes on display<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>These date back as far as 1536<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Interactive learning stations, too<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Celestial, moon &amp; planetary globes too<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Entrance ticket includes the Esperanto Museum<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Book a 2-hour <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiqets.com\/en\/vienna-walking-tours-l205287\/?partner=visitingvienna&amp;tq_campaign=LG_WalkingTours\" rel=\"sponsored\">walking tour<\/a>* of Vienna<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sightseeing\/vienna-museums\/\">Vienna Museums<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mercator and more<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/globemuseumA.jpg\" alt=\"People looking at globes\" class=\"wp-image-68055\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/globemuseumA.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/globemuseumA-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Exhibition view; press photo \u00a9 \u00d6sterreichische Nationalbibliothek\/Pichler)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Globes have something mystical about them, with the whole earth condensed into a small ball and echoes of long-gone days when &#8220;here be dragons&#8221; felt like a plausible entry on maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of us spent at least some time as a child poking at a globe with a finger and discovering just how little geography we know. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Austrian National Library&#8217;s Globe Museum &#8211; the only one of its kind in the world &#8211; recreates that wonder with glass cabinets bursting with one exhibit after another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Touchscreens introduce you to the history, production, and use of globes, as well as their digital equivalent: the hyperglobe. So you grasp their role as works of art, representative status symbols, scientific tools, and navigational aids. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/globe.jpg\" alt=\"Terrestrial globe\" class=\"wp-image-47359\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/globe.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/globe-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(17th century terrestrial globe by Willem Janszoon Blaeu. Image courtesy of the Rijksmuseum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All of which is fine and dandy, but the true wonder is in the globes themselves. And the museum offers dozens to admire. For example&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <em>Sphaera Stellifera<\/em> celestial globe from the 1620s with its representations of star signs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The 1541 <em>Mercator<\/em> globe, which you can also examine digitally to discover where 16th-century geographers got it right and wrong. (Poor Australia)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A whole series of globes for the moon and solar system planets<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The richly decorated 1688 earth globe by Vincenzo Coronelli, who made globes for such luminaries as the Duke of Parma, France&#8217;s Louis XIV, and the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The 1536 globe by Gemmas Frisius in the Rudolf Schmidt collection, the oldest globe in Austria and one of the oldest surviving globes worldwide<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh, and as a little bonus, one of the rooms in this small museum is the 17th-century Golden Cabinet with gorgeous wall paintings. Another opportunity to experience <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/baroque\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"30588\">the baroque in Vienna<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/globemuseum.jpg\" alt=\"The gold cabinet in the Globe Museum\" class=\"wp-image-55303\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/globemuseum.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/globemuseum-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The golden cabinet; press photo \u00a9 \u00d6sterreichische Nationalbibliothek\/Pichler)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"tickets\">Tickets &amp; visitor tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Globe Museum and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/esperanto-museum\/\">Esperanto Museum<\/a> (in the same building) both come under the auspices of the National Library and share a combination ticket that cost \u20ac6 for an adult at the time of writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After your visit, take a short walk up Herrengasse to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/michaelerplatz-2\/\">Michaelerplatz<\/a> for one of the main entrances to the central <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sightseeing\/hofburg\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"2708\">Hofburg palace complex<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Go on past Michaelerplatz and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/stallburg\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"30886\">Stallburg<\/a> imperial stables to find the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/winter-palace\/prunksaal\/\">National Library&#8217;s Prunksaal<\/a>, which has a wonderful pair of giant Coronelli globes, perhaps a map or two on display, and a lot of old books in a magnificent historical setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alternatively, walk in the other direction down Herrengasse for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/cafespubsbars\/cafe-central\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"10683\">Caf\u00e9 Central<\/a>, possibly my favourite coffee house in the city in terms of interior decoration. It gets busy, though. Reserve a table or consider <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/cafespubsbars\/coffee-houses\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"7689\">another option<\/a> if the queue to get in gets too long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to reach the globe museum<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Rather aptly for an institution of terrestrial and celestial navigation, you should have no trouble finding the Globe Museum, which has premises in the very central Palais Mollard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Subway: take the U3 line to Herrengasse station and the building is more or less opposite the Herrengasse exit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tram\/bus: take bus 1A or 2A to the Herrengasse or Michaelergasse stops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Address: Herrengasse 9, 1010 Vienna | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onb.ac.at\/museen\/globenmuseum\">Website<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/embed?mid=1asmHlbVpicbQLt1557vf6l4l0zQ\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Flick a finger to travel from Aberdeen to Adelaide. But globes offer more than a geographical overview of our little planet. The Globe Museum introduces the art and science of these magical spheres, with some magnificent examples to admire. Mercator and more (Exhibition view; press photo \u00a9 \u00d6sterreichische Nationalbibliothek\/Pichler) Globes have something mystical about them, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21659,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21661","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-museums","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21661"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88665,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21661\/revisions\/88665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}