The Vienna Crime Museum is located in one of the oldest houses in Leopoldstadt, the “Seifensiederhaus” (Soap Boiler’s House), which was built long before the first documented reference in 1685, housed in conjunction with the historic Museum of the Federal Police Directorate (formerly Imperial and Royal Police Museum).

The visitor strides through 20 rooms of justice, police and crime history, reaching from the late Middle Ages until today. Visitors will be introduced to the penal system of the Middle Ages as well as the last public executions in Vienna in these historic rooms. They’ll also encounter the “Greißlerin vom Hungelbrunn” (shop-keeper from Hungelbrunn), the murder of Latour, the Minister of War, the assassination of the young Emperor Franz Joseph, and foundation of the Security Police.

The anarchist terror and the story of the poetic maid murderer, Hugo Schenk, are as moving as the poisoner, Hofrichter, or the case of Josephine Luner from the interwar years. The “dark Vienna” of the last three hundred years comes alive again with a walk through the Crime Museum. That which moved the people of old Vienna, their lives of passion and suffering, full of joy and death, becomes comprehensible and also deeply touches today’s observer.

The house’s picturesque “Pablatschenhof”, an architectural jewel from the historical outskirts of the city or a visit to the Museum Café (during special events) provide closure for the walk through the “other history” of Vienna in proper style and lead to a new understanding of the history surrounding the old imperial city on the Danube.