Austrian Film Museum in Vienna: photos, reviews

About

The Austrian Film Museum in Wien offers a rich cinematic experience that combines entertainment, history, and education. Established in 1964 by visionaries Peter Konlechner and Peter Kubelka, the museum is renowned for its expansive cinema hall and specialist library, appealing to both movie aficionados and casual visitors. With an impressive Google rating of 4.7, the Invisible Cinema 3 hosts a myriad of high-quality programs and regular retrospectives, delving into various film genres and exploring focused topics, such as iconic directors or specific eras. Moviegoers can enjoy these cultural offerings while savoring refreshments from the well-regarded bar inside the theater. The museum is partially financed by the Republic of Austria and the City of Vienna, supporting its commitment to being a cornerstone of cinematic heritage and education. Additionally, the convenience of credit card payments makes accessing this treasure trove of film history hassle-free.

Features

Wheelchair accessible, Payment by credit card

How to get here?

The nearest public transport options for your convenience.

Plankengasse

Bus stop 223 m walk

Albertinaplatz

Bus stop 76 m walk

Kärntner Straße

Bus stop 151 m walk

Oper, Karlsplatz U

Bus stop 208 m walk

4.4

based on 604 reviews

Google

4.6/5 308 reviews

Facebook

4.2/5 296 reviews

lila mehl

Ein super cooler Ort mit angenehmener atmosphäre. super film programm und tolle alternativen zu den gängigen kinos mit vielen neuen filmen. nettes, bemühtes personal. im saal selber ist nicht so viel beinraum leider aber sonst sind die sitze bequem. die leinwand ist toll und ton passt auch super. und ja die lage ist halt auch top

Tin Hannah

應該說是一個放映經典電影的戲院，而非電影博物館，不過我看那場是George Clooney和Jennifer Lopez 主演的 Out of Sight, 也算不上經典電影。戲院內的通風系統有必要改善，看戲中途有時感覺呼吸困難，也有其他觀眾一邊看戲一邊搧扇子，體驗較差。

Maudite Part

The Amos Vogel Library is a significant collection of over 8,000 books and related materials from the personal library of Amos Vogel, the Austrian-born film curator, critic, and founder of Cinema 16, now housed at the Austrian Film Museum (Österreichisches Filmmuseum) in Vienna, Austria. Located at Albertinaplatz 1, 1010 Vienna, within the Albertina building, it represents a key piece of Vogel’s legacy, reflecting his lifelong passion for cinema as a subversive, transformative art form. The library was transferred to the museum in 2014 by Vogel’s sons, Steven and Loring Vogel, two years after his death in 2012 at age 91, with public access formalized in 2019. The collection spans Vogel’s eclectic interests: avant-garde and experimental film, documentary, world cinema, art history, psychology, and political theory. It includes rare volumes, film journals, and annotated books that informed his curatorial work at Cinema 16 (1947–1963), his co-founding of the New York Film Festival in 1963, and his seminal book Film as a Subversive Art (1974). Notable items include early editions of film theory texts, catalogs from his screenings, and works by thinkers like Siegfried Kracauer, whose ideas shaped Vogel’s view of film as a tool to "shock us out of complacency." The library isn’t just a static archive—it’s a window into the mind of a man who championed filmmakers like Maya Deren, Kenneth Anger, and Luis Buñuel, often against mainstream resistance. The Austrian Film Museum, founded in 1964 by Peter Konlechner and Peter Kubelka, integrates the Amos Vogel Library into its broader mission to preserve and explore film history. The library is accessible in the museum’s reading room, open Monday to Friday, 1 PM–5 PM, with free entry as of 2025 (appointments recommended for researchers). Since 2019, its catalog has been digitized and searchable online via the museum’s website (filmmuseum.at), allowing global access to titles and metadata, though the physical books remain in Vienna. The museum also uses the collection as a springboard for programming—its 2021 centenary tribute, "Amos Vogel – 100 Years of Subversion," paired screenings (e.g., Un Chien Andalou) with talks and a companion book, Be Sand, Not Oil. Unlike the Centro Studi Pier Paolo Pasolini, which preserves a single artist’s output, the Amos Vogel Library is more curatorial, reflecting Vogel’s role as a tastemaker rather than a creator. It complements his papers at Columbia University and the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, but its Viennese home ties it to his Austrian roots—he fled Nazi annexation in 1938 at age 17, making this a symbolic return. The museum, a non-profit reliant on public funding and donations, keeps the library active, not fossilized, aligning with Vogel’s belief in film’s living power.

Austrian Film Museum in Vienna

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