Once around the globe

In our permanent exhibition in the magnificent setting of the Palais Mollard, you can find out all about globes.

Your visit to the Globe Museum

At the start of your visit to the museum, you will be given some basic information about globes and learn about their advantages and disadvantages compared with maps.
Two other focus areas are the different ways globes are made, and the development of terrestrial and celestial globes, from ancient times up to the 1970s. You will also find out more about the history of the Globe Museum.

Golden Cabinet with magnificent secco painting

In the Golden Cabinet, with its wonderful wall paintings, you will find our our unique display of globe-related instruments.
Then in the next room there's a very special highlight: the especially valuable terrestrial and celestial globes made by Gerard Mercator in 1541 and 1551.
However, the Globe Museum does not only have three-dimensional objects for you to see. You can learn more by using our interactive displays, or compare geographical knowledge in the 16th century with the reality, thanks to our virtual 3D globe.
Our display of globes featuring the moon and the planets is the only one of its kind in the world.

The oldest globe in the country

As an addition to the museum, you see the Collectors' Cabinet which houses, among other things, the oldest terrestrial globe in Austria – the only one of its kind, made by Gemma Frisius in 1536.

Globes in the State Hall

You will also find two pairs of Venetian globes by Vincenzo Coronelli in the » State Hall of the Austrian National Library.