One of the most impressive clock collections in the world and the largest in Austria is housed in a magnificent historic building in the center of Vienna. Here visitors can embark on a journey through the centuries. The museum’s collection comprises some 7,000 exhibits including pocket watches, pendulum clocks and many other historical clocks. More than 700 exhibits from all over the world tell the story of timekeeping from the Middle Ages to the recent past in an exhibition spread over three floors. The oldest exhibits in the Clock Museum date back to the 15th century. 

Highlights include the 17th century tower clock from St. Stephen’s Cathedral, which weighs several tons, the famous “Laterndluhren” from the Viennese Biedermeier period, the pocket watch collection of the Austrian writer Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach and an astronomical art clock created by the monk David a Sancto Cajetano, which can tell the time of various locations, planetary orbits and solar and lunar eclipses.

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However, the Clock Museum is about more than just scientific progress and technical precision. It also documents the history of arts and crafts and sheds light on numerous social upheavals.

The exquisite collection of the Clock Museum, which was founded in 1917, can essentially be traced back to two private collections: that of the secondary school teacher and first director of the museum, Rudolf Kaftan, and the exceptionally valuable collection of Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach.

A scavenger hunt through the Clock Museum

If you want to explore the Clock Museum in a fun way, we recommend the “AR Escape Game”. Taking as its motto “A secret shared”, the tour takes visitors to twelve interactive stations across all three levels of the museum. Each small group of two to five people, equipped with tablets, has to solve the mystery of Aunt Selma’s precious pocket watch. The innovative technology allows visitors to immerse themselves in the fascinating world of timekeeping and the art of watchmaking in a fun way.

© Michael Goldrei