At home with Arnold Schönberg

Exhibition March 11, 2026 – February 19, 2027

Ping-pong and twelve-tone method, house pets and ideological beliefs, telephone connections and faith-based opera: visits to the homes of Arnold Schönberg (1874 –1951) reveal constellations that illuminate his biography, creativity, and contemporary history in his central position as a major figure in transatlantic cultural history.

Schönberg’s way of life was rooted in practical everyday existence and found its counterpart in a consistently functional approach to living. In his artistic work, he employed the properties of his materials as a carpenter would, placing pure craftsmanship above theoretical beliefs, truth above aesthetic sensibility, and artistic impact above the eternal laws of conservative aesthetics. He propagated liberation from systemic constraints as a necessary goal of all intellectual endeavor, devoting himself to the creation of a portable music stand with the same dedication that he applied to the elaboration of musical ideas, always pursuing manageability and comprehensibility. For its dweller, the composition workshop and the crafts room were always closely connected.

A body of work spanning many decades is unfolded by domestic stories from Schönberg’s residences in Vienna, Berlin, Mödling, Boston and Los Angeles. Exhibits from the archives of this multi-talented individual document the composer, musician, painter, teacher, writer, family man and host.

Visitors to the exhibition encounter Schönberg’s historical guests: composer and chess champion, screenwriter and Nobel Prize winner, exiled Habsburg aristocrat and comedian. Digitally animated scores, film clips, and voices from the past transport visitors to a world that only appears to have passed us by.

Curator: Therese Muxeneder Architecture: Jochen Koppensteiner Digital realisation: Christoph Edtmayr

Opening Hours Monday–Friday 10 am to 5 pm closed on legal holidays (October 26, December 8 & 25, 2026; January 1, 2027) and on December 24 and 31, 2026

Entrance fees Adults € 6; Discount: senior citizens, visitors with special needs, groups, Vienna City Card

Free admission children and young people 26 and under

Exhibits