The Haus der Musik in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 opened in 2000, and is the first museum of sound and music in Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

. Across an exhibition space of 54,000 sq. ft., a range of hi-tech interactive and multimedia presentations introduce the world of music, from the earliest human use of instruments to the music of the present day.

Those involved in developing the museum included four Austrian universities, two foreign university institutes, a team of musicians and music theorists, artists from multimedia and other areas, sound technicians, architects, and students. In 2002 the Haus der Musik was awarded the Austrian Museum Prize for its innovative conception.

The Haus der Musik is located in the Palace of Archduke Charles

Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen

Archduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field-marshal, the third son of emperor Leopold II and his wife Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain...

, where Otto Nicolai, founder of the Vienna Philharmonic, lived around 150 years ago. Its honorary president is the Indian conductor Zubin Mehta

Zubin Mehta

Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of western classical music. He is the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.-Biography:...

. In 2009 it was the 19th most popular attraction in Vienna, with 205,000 visitors.