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The Porcelain Museum at Augarten is housed in a wing of the Porcelain Manufactory. An original kiln stretches impressively across both exhibition floors.

The museum illustrates the history of Viennese porcelain with over 150 representative pieces from it’s various artistic phases. At the beginning of the exhibition, on the upper floor, guests learn details about the genesis of porcelain in China and the aristocratic European porcelain enthusiasts. This fascination sparked the rediscovery of the original porcelain recipe in Europe and lead to the founding of the first Viennese manufactory under Claudius Innocentius de Paquier in the year 1718.

In the museum, the manufactory’s various stages of porcelain production are haptically represented, giving visitors the opportunity to touch and feel samples of porcelain’s essential ingredients: kaolin (“china clay”), feldspar (“china stone”) and quartz.

The ground floor is dedicated to the 20th and 21st centuries and hosts the actual company museum. In 1923 the Porcelain Manufactory at Augarten was reopened. In the vein of the Vienna Workshops and Art Deco, a number of figurines and services were crafted by well-known artists of the time. Michael Powolny, Vally Wieselthier, Josef Hoffmann and Friedrich Ludwig Berzeviczy-Pallavicini were some of the most prominent collaborators of the new manufactory. Present day designers, sculptors and painters are still working with porcelain, fascinated by the many possibilities and challenging technique. The Porcelain Museum at Augarten, alongside it’s permanent exhibition, hosts two special exhibitions every year that deal with historical as well as current themes regarding Viennese porcelain.

Opening hours:
10:00am - 06:00pm
Monday until Saturday