{"id":9952,"date":"2019-02-11T06:26:17","date_gmt":"2019-02-11T05:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=9952"},"modified":"2025-04-24T18:37:05","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T17:37:05","slug":"ephesos-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/khm\/ephesos-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ephesos Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Greek-relief-e1571730268598.jpg\" alt=\"A Greek relief\" class=\"wp-image-20030\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>When the artists and artisans of the ancient Greek and Roman metropolis of Ephesos put their tools away, little did they know that the fruits of their labour would one day sit in an imperial palace in Vienna&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Small collection of classical statues, reliefs, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the Neue Burg palace wing<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Good way to see inside that wing, too<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Book a two-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\/sights\/museums\/khm\/greek-roman-antiquities\/\">Greek and Roman antiquities<\/a> at the Kunsthistorisches Museum<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/vindobona\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"32729\">Roman Vienna<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-ephesos-collection\">The Ephesos collection<\/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\/ephesosruins.jpg\" alt=\"The ruins at Ephesos\" class=\"wp-image-42862\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/ephesosruins.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/ephesosruins-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\">(Photo of the ruins at Ephesos taken most likely sometime between 1867 and 1898. Image courtesy of the Rijksmuseum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the late 19th century, Austrian archaeologists have been excavating and researching the Ephesos site in modern-day Turkey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ephesos (or Ephesus, depending on whether you&#8217;re Greek or Roman) was a thriving city in classical times and the location of one of the seven wonders of the world: the Temple of Artemis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Had you lived there around 500BC, you might have bumped into Heraclitus, the cryptic philosopher credited in the western world with the idea of impermanence. This was the man who said something along the lines of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Nobody ever steps in the same river twice<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ephesos Museum displays some of the results of the archaeologists&#8217; efforts, gifted to Austria by Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"304\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ephesostempleartemis.jpg\" alt=\"Drawing of the Temple of Artemis\" class=\"wp-image-82777\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ephesostempleartemis.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ephesostempleartemis-300x182.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\">(Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach&#8217;s portrayal of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesos from 1721; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 311717\/12; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Essentially, you have a variety of statues, reliefs, architectural elements, and other bits and pieces from the excavation work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Without a deeper understanding of Greek and Roman art and culture, it&#8217;s hard for the layperson to appreciate the individual items for themselves, even though they come with detailed descriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What does come across, for example, is the monumental nature of the original site: a settlement housing tens of thousands of people with numerous civic buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The worn antiquities, often incomplete, seem to hint almost at a lost alien civilisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Equally, you gain an understanding of the huge effort and meticulous research work that has obviously gone into unearthing (literally and figuratively) the history and treasures of the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"collection-highlights\">Collection highlights<\/h3>\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\/ephesosbust.jpg\" alt=\"Engraving of a bust of Emperor Lucius Verus\" class=\"wp-image-71092\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/ephesosbust.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/ephesosbust-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\">(A 1640 engraving by Theodor Matham of a bust of Lucius Verus in the Galleria Giustiniani in Rome. Verus&#8217;s victory over the Parthian Empire is the probable subject of a giant frieze in the Ephesos museum. Image courtesy of the Rijksmuseum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It would take a greater mind than mine to understand what constitutes a particular highlight, but the series of reliefs from the <em>Parther Monument <\/em>certainly contribute to that sense of wonder and scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These reliefs come from a large and long frieze most likely celebrating the Roman\u2013Parthian war of 161\u2013166 and its victor, Emperor Lucius Verus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another highlight is the <em>Scraper of Ephesos<\/em>: a wonderful 1st-century bronze statue of an athlete removing the sweat from his body with a strigil. Researchers reconstructed that statue from broken pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A further memorable rebuild is a 2nd-century statue of a baby squeezing a goose. Which leaves me wondering about the conversation between the sculptor and their customer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>You want a what?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps the squeezed goose has some symbolic value known only to scholars. Or maybe the customer had been smoking too many lark tongues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The location<\/h3>\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\/08\/walkingtourneueburg.jpg\" alt=\"The Neue Burg\" class=\"wp-image-50414\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/walkingtourneueburg.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/walkingtourneueburg-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 Neue Burg home to the Ephesos Museum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ephesos collection resides within the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/winter-palace\/neue-burg\/\">Neue Burg<\/a> wing of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sightseeing\/hofburg\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"2708\">Hofburg palace complex<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This wing should have housed imperial apartments, but wasn&#8217;t ready until after WWI. By this time, Austria had become a republic; any royals were distinctly ex-royals and ineligible for state-sponsored luxury accommodation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the Neue Burg lent itself to other uses, like providing a home to museums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The location is rather exquisite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The antiquities sit in curved halls and giant staircases at the front of the building. Huge marble columns and white ceilings match the displays quite perfectly, as if built as a showcase for some emperor&#8217;s collection of souvenirs from the super-rich equivalent of a Greek beach holiday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"tickets-visitor-tips\">Tickets &amp; visitor tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Unless you have an annual pass for the family of locations belonging to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sightseeing\/vienna-museums\/kunsthistorischesmuseum\/\">Kunsthistorisches Museum group<\/a>, you need a ticket to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/austrian-history\/\">House of Austrian History<\/a> to access the Ephesos Museum. The two institutions share the same part of the Neue Burg building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Even if you&#8217;re not into antiquities, you might want to get a ticket just to see inside the Neue Burg<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Note that almost all information is provided in English and German, and an audioguide is available. The entrance area has coin-operated lockers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You only need a few minutes to browse the Ephesos collection, unless you want to examine objects or information displays in detail<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The main building of the Kunsthistorisches Museum also has a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/khm\/greek-roman-antiquities\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"1485\">Roman and Greek section<\/a>. I&#8217;m particularly fond of how they designed the galleries with the gorgeous lighting. Look out for the <em>Gemma Augustea<\/em>, in particular: a large engraved cameo made of onyx set in gold<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For items of a more mundane nature, visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/roman-museum\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"35392\">Roman Museum<\/a>. This small institution offers a concise and informative overview of Roman Vienna (known as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/vindobona\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"32729\">Vindobona<\/a>) with excavated officer housing in the basement<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-to-get-to-the-ephesos-museum\">How to get to the Ephesos Museum<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>See the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/austrian-history\/\">History Museum article<\/a> for tips on how to reach the Ephesos Museum, since they share an entrance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Address: Heldenplatz, 1010 Vienna | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.khm.at\/besuchen\/sammlungen\/ephesos-museum\/\">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>When the artists and artisans of the ancient Greek and Roman metropolis of Ephesos put their tools away, little did they know that the fruits of their labour would one day sit in an imperial palace in Vienna&#8230; The Ephesos collection (Photo of the ruins at Ephesos taken most likely sometime between 1867 and 1898. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20030,"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":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9952","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-khm","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9952","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=9952"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82778,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9952\/revisions\/82778"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}