In Vienna’s musician’s memorials - apartments of famous composers which have been turned into museums – you can see the furniture and objects that were owned by the artists themselves, as well as autographs, facsimiles of scores, paintings and photos. The most important works by the composers are usually played in historic or prominently cast performances and can be listened to with earphones.

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The Mozarthaus Vienna, in which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed "The Marriage of Figaro" and nearly resided as a person of exalted rank, can be found in the center of the old city, behind St. Stephen's Cathedral. It is now a modern Mozart world on 1.000 m². Many other Viennese attractions are also historic Mozart locations.

Many of the mementos displayed were originally in the possession of the Waltz King Johann Strauss who also lived in this house and wrote his greatest hit, "The Blue Danube."

The house where Ludwig van Beethoven wrote, among other compositions, his Fourth Symphony as well as his famous "Heiligenstadt Testament", in which he expressed desperation over his deafness, has been Vienna's new, large Beethoven museum since 2017. The location in the Heiligenstadt district is idyllic, near to Vienna's vineyards and in the vicinity of many heuriger that serve Viennese wine. Visit also Pasqualati House in the inner city of Vienna - here Beethoven composed the famous piano piece "Für Elise".

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The last apartment of Joseph Haydn has also been kept intact. Here, in the Haydn House, he created his great oratorios "The Creation" and "The Seasons"; today, the museum is a must-see for Haydn lovers.

One should also visit the house where the "king of lieder", Franz Schubert, was born. At the time, 16 families lived in that picturesque building – each family in an apartment consisting only of a room and a kitchen. Paintings, drawings, first editions of his works and the composer's guitar are as much mementoes of him as are the metal-rimmed glasses that he often did not even take off at night so that he could start writing music immediately upon waking up.

Perhaps the most poignant of all the Wien Museum’s composer memorials is the house where Schubert died near Naschmarkt. Franz Schubert lived here for several weeks as his brother's guest in an apartment consisting of two rooms and a cabinet study on the second floor of the Biedermeier house, until his death on 19 November 1828. Here he composed his last works, among them the song "The Shepherd on the Rock". The exhibits document the last weeks of his life, Schubert's death, the funeral, and the grave of the composer just near Beethoven's last resting place in what was then the Währing local cemetery.

More than only a memorial is the Arnold Schönberg Center: it houses not only the estate of the founder of twelve-tone music and the founder of the "New Vienna School" – manuscripts, oil paintings, drawings, diaries and musical instruments – but it also shows special exhibitions and functions as a lively research center. Several music manuscripts of Gustav Mahler - who revolutionized opera - can be found in the archive.

Online music tours

Rediscover Beethoven's Vienna with your smartphone? ivie, the digital city guide for Vienna, is your perfect companion through the city. The (free) app invites you to go on exciting city walks with the feature "Walks & Guides". Including an audio walk that leads right through Beethoven's Vienna and shows a new side to the composer.

ivie: Information and download

Further tips for walks and tours that you can do in Vienna on your own – with description and localization on the city map:

• Walk "In the footsteps of famous musicians"
• Mozart walk
• Beethoven walk
• Strauss walk
• Mahler walk