Sparkling and glittering are the order of the day from June 7, 2023, at the MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna. J. & L. Lobmeyr, the Viennese traditional manufactory for elegant crystal glass and special chandeliers, was part of the Vienna World's Fair in 1873 and the company simultaneously celebrates its 200th anniversary in 2023. The exhibition "Glitz and Glamour. 200 Years of Lobmeyr" presents shimmering worlds of luxury in the form of fantastic Viennese handicrafts.

© MAK/Katrin Wißkirchen

Another special exhibition also opens at the MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, on June 21, 2023. To mark the 150th anniversary of the 1873 Vienna World's Fair, the exhibition "The 1873 Vienna World's Fair Revisited. Egypt and Japan as Europe's "Orient"" casts light on a critical aspect of this international prestigious show: the "Orient" at the Vienna World's Fair as a construct of 19th century Orientalism. Various facets of this phenomenon are highlighted with a focus on Egypt and Japan, which were often culturally and geographically classified as the "Orient", as it was understood at the time. The precise look at the unusual composition of the countries from today's perspective and at the "interior workings" of enthusiasm for the Orient during the Vienna World's Fair reveals the complexity of Orientalism in Vienna in the late 19th century.

Jewish Museum Vienna: commemorating 1873

The Jewish Museum Vienna (JMW) is also marking the 150th anniversary of the Vienna World’s Fair and will focus on one aspect in particular: the museum has created a kind of “shop window” looking onto Dorotheergasse with a display space that offers a public museum experience to passers-by. This display area commemorates the Israelite Institute for the Blind on the Hohe Warte. This Institute for the Blind organised the first Pan-European Conference of Teachers of the Blind as part of the World’s Fair. The conference focussed on education, employment and integration of blind people. It was a pioneering achievement in the field of inclusion and cooperation. The Israelite Institute for the Blind subsequently became a pioneer in the inclusion of visually impaired people in Austria-Hungary and viewed its work as a major step forward in the social integration of both blind people and Jews.

© Stefan Fuhrer

Weltmuseum Wien: Austro-Japanese friendship

The Weltmuseum Wien (World Museum Vienna) is also in the spirit of the World’s Fair: here you will find two halls featuring a special focus on the World’s Fair. They are dedicated to the opening of Japan and the “Orient” to Europe – because the Vienna World's Fair was a premier at which Japan, along with Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, the Ottoman Empire and Persia presented themselves in depth to the world for the very first time. From January to December 2023, every Saturday at 11.00 am, there is a guided tour (alternating between German and English) entitled "The 1873 Vienna World's Fair and Art Nouveau". Visitors to the museum also get a free booklet containing information on the 1873 Vienna World's Fair as well as on the objects of the Weltmuseum Wien, which could be seen at the World's Fair at the time or found their way into the collections afterwards. You can find full details on the special program here. Holders of the Vienna City Card get a €4 discount on the admission price to the Weltmuseum Wien from January to December 2023. You can find full details on the offering here.

© KHM-Museumsverband 2022

Wien Museum: Major re-opening

A major re-opening is on the program in December 2023: The Wien Museum is opening its doors again after several years of remodeling and expansion, and will become an important place of encounter on Karlsplatz. The present-day collection of the Wien Museum was initiated in advance of the Vienna World's Fair.

Dining and crystal clear water

There will also be much to celebrate for Viennese gastronomy in 2023: Café Landtmann, one of Vienna's best-known coffee houses, opened in 1873 and continues to welcome visitors from around the world. For the Imperial and Royal Court Confectioner Gerstner, 1873 was also a big year: The company provided the catering in the Emperor's Pavilion at the Vienna World's Fair and receive the coveted title of Imperial and Royal Court Purveyor.

© WienTourismus/Christian Stemper

Inseparably linked with Viennese hospitality is the fantastic Viennese high spring water, which has flowed down from the Alps to Vienna since 1873 and will be celebrated in grand style in 2023: Firstly, on June 16, when the Vienna Water Festival is held at the historic Favoriten water tower. Secondly, on October 24, 2023, the opening day of the high spring pipeline, when the new anniversary fountain will be unveiled. The fountain is being designed by Gelatin, an internationally renowned group of Austrian artists. In a special place: The anniversary fountain will be installed in the Sonnwendviertel, one of the most important and spectacular urban development projects in Vienna of the 3rd millennium.

© Wiener Wasser / Spacecam und Wiener Wasser / Daniel Novotny

Luxury shopping à la 1873

In 2023, Vienna will also be about exquisite shopping in the form of famous Viennese handicrafts. Thus the elegant store of J. & L. Lobmeyr on Kärntner Strasse is directly connected to the World's Fair. Lobmeyr was part of many World's Fairs and also celebrated huge success in Vienna in 1873. For this reason, a small show on the second floor of the business is dedicated to the topic of Lobmeyr at World's Fairs from April to July 2023. It spans an arc from the 1862 London World's Fair via Vienna in 1873, Cologne in 1914, and Paris in 1925 to the "Passionswege" of Vienna Design Week of more recent times. At the same time, Lobmeyr is celebrating its 200th anniversary as a company in 2023. From September to December 2023, an exhibition will therefore run under the motto "Design". Themes are design processes, Lobmeyr's understanding of materials, and the icons that were created at Lobmeyr in the last 200 years.

The jewelers A. E. Köchert Juweliere, who were also part of the World's Fair and relocated to the present location on Neuer Markt in 1873, continue to offer worlds of luxury like in those days. Just like the bespoke shoemaker Scheer and the silversmiths Jarosinski & Vaugoin, as well as Bösendorfer pianos, all of which exhibited at the World's Fair and still offer their special products in Vienna today.

© WienTourismus/Peter Rigaud

Meeting destination Vienna and the soy bean

And Meeting Destination Vienna is also in the spirit of the World's Fair and its impact on the world: Such as in the form of the World Soybean Research Conference, which will be held at the Austria Center Vienna (ACV) from June 18, 2023. Because the Vienna World's Fair spurred on the spread of the soybean around the world. At the time, the special plant was brought to Vienna by the Japanese World's Fair delegation.

To go with this, there is a focus in 2023 on the topic of the soybean at the Austrian Museum of Folk Life and Folk Art, which is located in the stately Schönborn Garden Palace. Because the pioneering Viennese agrarian Friedrich Haberlandt started the first soy cultivation trials in Europe in the garden of the present-day museum, which was a site of the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in the 19th century. He discovered the plant during the 1873 Vienna World's Fair. In the Austrian Museum of Folk Life and Folk Art, you'll learn lots of interesting facts about the soy plant on an audio tour of the historic show collection. And from June 13 to December 23, 2023, there will be a small, publicly accessible exhibition on the World's Fair and the soy bean in the museum's arcade. If you'd like to know even more about the topic then visit the museum's website, which has its own online soy exhibition.