Narrenturm Vienna

Tower of fools

Julia from Vienna

""Narrenturm" Vienna used to be the first psychiatric hospital worldwide. Nowadays it's the city's Pathological-anatomical museum. Creepy, but interesting!"

The tower called Narrenturm was built in 1784 and back then it was the first psychiatric hospital in the world. The rotunda offered solitary cells for 139 inmates. It is part of the area that had back then been the general hospital of Vienna, since 1998 it's the campus of the main university. Because its shape resembles the ring cake Viennese often also call it Guglhupf.

Nowadays the tower is home to Vienna's Pathologic-anatomical Museum and has recently been renovated. With its new facade, it has been stripped of some charm. But certain alterations were restored so that the current appearance would return to its original state. One can have a look at human and animal exhibits, a lot of diseases (should get some people to start using condoms each and every time!) and malformations, but also medical devices that make you wonder on what planet they might have been in use.

They have a new exhibition titled "Pathways of Pathogenes" which sheds light on the various causes of a pandemic as well as historical and present-day ways of spreading diseases.

This museum is definitely something one doesn't get the chance to see in every city. Be aware of the limited opening hours - this way the visit is just more exclusive ;)

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Vienna Spotter Julia

I was born and raised in Austria, yet not in Vienna. I moved to Vienna for schooling and even though I love the nature and quietness of the countryside where I come from, since I left I haven’t thought about moving the center of my life back there. By now I’ve had a few homes and still call most of them such, this way it’s normal for me to say “I’m at home but soon I’ll go home”. I like the fact that no matter if I’m on a back or forth trip, I’m always coming home Why Vienna? As much as I miss being abroad, when I’m traveling I also miss the commodities of my ci...

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Spitalgasse 2

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152177605

Dec 5, 2025

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