Wiener Neustadt is a historic city known for its numerous monuments and interesting museums. It is home to the famous Aviaticum Aviation Museum showing the history of Austrian aviation.
The city was founded in the 12th century by the Babenbergs and was a fortress protecting access to Vienna. Its greatest heyday was in the 15th century, when representatives of the ruling family often visited it, and the local castle played an important role in the regional administration.
Today's Wiener Neustadt has a nicely preserved Old Town, the greatest ornament of which is the Gothic castle. It is located on the edge of the Teresian Military Academy Park, the city's largest green area and popular recreation area. Visiting the castle in Wiener Neustadt, you can expand to the nearby New Monastery. Built in the 15th century, the Cistercian monastery is today the seat of the Museum of Sacred Art, which collects, among others, old prints, liturgical vessels and vestments as well as religious paintings and sculptures. The Dominican monastery was also turned into the museum. Rebuilt after the destruction, the temple is today the exhibition space of the Sankt Peter an der Sperr Museum belonging to the City Museum.
The center of Wiener Neustadt is small. Among the tenement houses and nice facades, which now house service premises and restaurants, you can find the building of the Romanesque-Gothic cathedral and the Carmelite nunnery converted into the City Theater in the 18th century. There is a Baroque Marian Column in the square, and a neo-Gothic column from the 19th century in the nearby square.
Museums play an important role among the attractions of Wiener Neustadt. The most important of them is the Aviaticum Aviation Museum located within the local airport, presenting old airplanes and gliders, and the contribution of Austrian engineering to the development of world aviation. There is also the Museum of Industry in the city.
