Rolling, flying or standing - huge, tiny, ancient or new - fully, partly or not at all functional - the Technisches Museum Wien (Vienna Museum of Science and Technology) showcases a great variety of exhibits. They are materialised stories that are still on our minds today. They tell history - and made history.

There are honking horns, hissing steam, flying sparks and ghostly sounds. Experience the diversity of technology on this highlight tour

Long before the computer was invented, it was possible to have musical instruments play automatically. Whether pinned barrels, punched cards, piano rolls or digital MIDI files - the basic principle of notation for mechanical musical instruments has hardly changed over the centuries of their evolution.

There are locomotives, cars and computers at the Technisches Museum Wien (Vienna Museum of Science and Technology). That’s pretty obvious at a glance. However, technology is so much more than that! Sometimes it actually resembles an animal, looks like real magic or even talks to us. Come and join us on an adventurous journey through the colourful world of the Technisches Museum Wien. Let’s go!

European stories of raw materials, production and consumption have been told many times. For several centuries, however, other continents have also substantially contributed to the wealth of the “Western world” with their resources, workforce and production know-how, often by making enormous sacrifices. Telling this story as well is now more necessary than ever, in particular in view of the ongoing discussion about the return of museum holdings that found their way to Europe under suspicious circumstances.

What is digitalisation? How does it work? And what is beneath the surface? This tour places a focus on the history of digitalisation and its impact on society. The computer, a device that processes data by means of programmable calculation rules, has been around for a long time, since the 19th century. However, digital systems and algorithms have been known even longer. They do not necessarily require a computer. Let’s start our tour with one of the founders of digital thinking and scientific programming, the remarkable Ada Countess of Lovelace.

A tour devoted to gender at the Technisches Museum Wien (Vienna Museum of Science and Technology)? Gender and technology: What do they have to do with each other? One thing is clear: Natural sciences and technology and the description of their past, present and future belong in the TMW: But it is also clear that the basic knowledge about it cannot be seen separately from our daily lives and our cultural and social beliefs. This also includes the gender relations and, in particular, the notions of femininity and masculinity. When taking a journey through the history of technology, we usually encounter male inventors, researchers and pioneers. This raises a lot of questions: Are technologies “male” per se? What presuppositions and stereotypes about genders are incorporated in the construction, production, design and use of technology? Does this happen consciously or unconsciously? What can a closer look at technology reveal about concepts of gender in the mirror of time? Who makes technology - and for whom? This tour shows that technology and those who develop and use it are just as diverse as the human perceptions thereof.

Is electronic music a male domain? That’s the big question. The answer is: Not really, it just seems that way at first glance. Many women played a leading role in the development of electronic music. Women established studios, developed sounds and designed instruments to realise their ideas.

Empress Elisabeth already fascinated contemporaries in her lifetime and, even today, her person and her myth capture the imagination of many people. During her lifetime, mobility in the Danube Monarchy saw a rapid change and feats of craftsmanship were accomplished “in honour of the empress”. The empress presented herself as a user of “modern technology” by having the “Hofsalonwagen” (royal railway carriage) built for her personal use. In this tour, objects of the Technisches Museum Wien (Vienna Museum of Science and Technology) are illuminated from a different perspective by taking a look at the life and times of the empress.

What technical requirements are needed for a big city like Vienna to work? The following audio tour explains how the foundations for this were laid around 1900. The infrastructure created at that time is still the backbone of urban development in the metropolis of two million inhabitants.