View into one of the hidden rooms behind the Prunksaal’s great bookcases. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Filled with hidden doors, Baroque painting, sculpture, globes, and many, many leather-bound books, the Prunksaal (State Hall) of the Austrian National Library in Vienna regularly appears on lists of the world’s most beautiful libraries. As an institution, however, the library expands far beyond the elaborately decorated State Hall and includes several off-site collections, such as the Globe and Papyrus Museums.
Prunksaal
Ceiling of the Austrian National Library’s Prunksaal, Vienna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Secret(ish) door in the Prunksaal, Vienna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Prunksaal, Austrian National Library, Vienna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Celestial globe from 1693 by Vincenzo Coronelli in the Prunksaal, Vienna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Detail of the Prunksaal’s ceiling. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Papyrus Museum
View of the Papyrus Museum in the basement of the Neue Berg, Vienna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Detail a papyrus scroll in the Papyrus Museum, Vienna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Roman stucco head with glass eyes from the site of Tuna el-Gebel, Egypt, in the Papyrus Museum, Vienna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Mummy net in the Papyrus Museum, Vienna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Detail from one of many papyrus scrolls in the Papyrus Museum, Vienna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Globe Museum
Hallway in the Globe Museum, Vienna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Terrestrial globe in the Globe Museum, Vienna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Display in the Globe Museum, Vienna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Display in the Globe Museum, Vienna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
360-panorama of the Globe Museum, Vienna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Display in the Globe Museum, Vienna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Celestial globe in the Globe Museum, Vienna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Small celestial globe in the Globe Museum, Vienna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.
Hallway ceiling in the Globe Museum, Vienna. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.