The baroque world in the State Hall
What comes to mind when you think of a library hall? Enter the State Hall of the Austrian National Library and your expectations are guaranteed to be exceeded.
Feel the essence of history.
The State Hall – built in the 18th century as part of the former Court Library – is a nearly 80 metres long and 20 metres high. An intricately decorated dome and numerous frescos provide an imperial flair. This baroque jewel is home to over 200,000 tomes. Four magnificent Venetian globes, each with a diameter of over one metre, provide the finishing touch to the heart of the Austrian National Library.
The Austrian National Library is currently closed due to official requirements. This precaution in connection with the corona virus affects both the reading rooms of the Library at Heldenplatz, the departments and museums. We are very pleased to inform you, that all devisions of the Austrian National Library will be able to open again soon: On Friday, May 29, the State Hall and the Literature Museum will reopen, both are also open on Whit Monday, June 1, after which they are open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. These new opening times also apply to the House of Austrian History and the Papyrus, Globe and Esperanto Museum which will which open on Wednesday, July 1. From June 2, the reading rooms of the Library at Heldenplatz will be accessible to readers again. The new opening times are from Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The reading rooms of the collections will also be open from June 2 at their respective "summer opening times".
The safety of our visitors is our top priority. Therefore, hand disinfectants are available at all museums. We ask you to bring your own mouth and nose mask and to wear it during the entire stay (children under 6 years of age are exempt). Please keep distance of at least one meter (exception: people who live in the same household). We also ask for your understanding if there are short waiting times at some locations due to the prescribed personal limits.
After reopening the museums, the Austrian National Library extends all currently valid annual tickets for the museums automatically and free of charge for the duration of the corona-related closing time. Likewise, the validity of all Bundesmuseen Cards that were active when the Federal Museums and State Hall were closed will automatically be extended by the duration of the closing time.
The staff of the information services are happy to answer any questions: The e-mail information@onb.ac.at and the Live Chat on the homepage of the Austrian National Library are open from Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.