{"id":42396,"date":"2022-02-26T05:59:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-26T04:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=42396"},"modified":"2026-02-23T13:13:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T12:13:30","slug":"westlicht","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/westlicht\/","title":{"rendered":"Westlicht photography centre"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><a href=\"#tickets-visitor-tips\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/westlichttickets.jpg\" alt=\"Westlicht sign\" class=\"wp-image-80403\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>All roads lead to Westlicht. At least, all roads seen through a camera lens. This oasis for photographers combines a camera museum with regular high-quality photo exhibitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Home to the only surviving example of the first commercial camera<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Small museum section features dozens of historical cameras<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Notable for its annual World Press Photo exhibition<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>One-time free entry with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/vienna-pass-review\/\">Vienna Pass<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#tickets-visitor-tips\">What special exhibitions are on<\/a>?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/events\/exhibitions\/#photography\">Photography exhibitions<\/a> in Vienna<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"hub-museum-gallery\">Hub, museum &amp; gallery<\/h2>\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\/02\/westlicht.jpg\" alt=\"Entrance to Westlicht\" class=\"wp-image-42399\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/westlicht.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/westlicht-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\">(The roadside entrance)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you enter the Westlicht centre, you can almost smell the silver halides and hear the rattle of film canisters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The place feels like its own photo motif: all industrial-style entrance and building with the outer walls carpeted in exhibition posters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Inside you find a homage to the past and present of photography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"camera-museum\">Camera Museum<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Part of the large open-plan building uses over 350 historical cameras to quickly take you through the major developments in camera technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These are the kind of cameras familiar from old movies, as prized antique objects in stately homes, or sitting behind glass cabinets in converted dockland apartments. Cameras once operated by stern men in top hats or pioneering 20th-century technologists.<\/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\/2024\/04\/westlicht1873.jpg\" alt=\"Photographers with camera and mobile dark room in 1873\" class=\"wp-image-70891\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/westlicht1873.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/westlicht1873-300x225.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\">(Photographers with cameras and mobile dark room outside the World Exhibition in Vienna in 1873; from the Michael Frankenstein &amp; Comp. photo studio; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 79000\/21119; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some surprises lurk in among the wooden and metallic housing. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Westlicht has the only surviving example of the very first commercially-available camera: the 1839 Susse Fr\u00e8res daguerreotype<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Remarkably, the device still produces quality pictures; a nearby display case has a portrait photo (of Brigitte Bierlein, then Chancellor of Austria) taken with the equipment in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A Thornton-Pickard Mk III Hythe machine gun camera used when training aircraft gunners in WWI<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Leica rifle camera used by photographer Werner W\u00fcnsch to capture shots of Nazi war criminal Albert Speer in Spandau prison<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"tickets-visitor-tips\">Tickets, exhibitions &amp; tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At the time of writing, a standard adult entry ticket costs \u20ac12. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/vienna-pass-review\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"3960\">Vienna Pass<\/a> gets you one-time free entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"regular-exhibitions\">Special exhibitions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Westlicht features a continuous series of special photo exhibitions; one notable example being the annual autumn World Press Photo exhibition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The current schedule at the time of writing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Under Water<\/em> (March 13th to May 17th, 2026): a dialogue between historical and contemporary photos of life beneath the sea, particularly in the context of modern challenges and issues<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>My last visit took in an exhibition featuring photos of the Beatles, including rarely-seen works and those from behind the scenes or the early days of the band in Hamburg. An absorbing display with the added bonus of a jukebox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The quality of these exhibitions and the broader authenticity of Westlicht certainly make the location a prime address for those interested in the art, impact, and history of photography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few further tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The display labels in the camera museum part were in both German and English<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Westlicht has its own small caf\u00e9 and bookstore. The latter largely sells photobooks, some signed by the photographers in question<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Vienna often has several <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/events\/exhibitions\/#photography\">photo exhibitions<\/a> on at any one time. Look, particularly, for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/foto-arsenal-wien\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"64035\">FOTO ARSENAL WIEN<\/a>, a major new institution with a series of international exhibitions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/technical-museum\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"18107\">Technisches Museum<\/a> also has a selection of historical cameras on display as part of its permanent exhibition<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-to-get-to-westlicht\">How to get to Westlicht<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The centre lies within a veritable photography enclave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last time I checked, a Leica shop and a vintage photo store flanked the entrance, while the other side of the road had two photography stores and a printing and framing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Subway: the nearest subway station is Burggasse-Stadthalle on the U6 line. You can also walk up from Zieglergasse on the U3 line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trams\/buses: lines 5 and 49 pass close by. Get off at either the Westbahnstr.\/Kaiserstr. (5 or 49) or Westbahnstr.\/Zieglergasse (49 only) stops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Address: Westbahnstrasse 40, 10170 Vienna | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westlicht.com\/\">Website<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All roads lead to Westlicht. At least, all roads seen through a camera lens. This oasis for photographers combines a camera museum with regular high-quality photo exhibitions. Hub, museum &amp; gallery (The roadside entrance) When you enter the Westlicht centre, you can almost smell the silver halides and hear the rattle of film canisters. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42397,"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-42396","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\/42396","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42396"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88823,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42396\/revisions\/88823"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}