vorarlberg museum & Bregenz upper town

The vorarlberg museum is the provincial museum – founded as an association in 1857 and housed since 21 June 2013 in a new building by Bregenz architects Cukrowicz Nachbaur that encloses the old district administration on the Kornmarkt and adds two storeys on top. From outside the façade catches the eye: 16,656 concrete blossoms cast from the bottoms of ordinary PET bottles. Inside, across 2,400 m², await a 23 m clay wall in the atrium, Roman Brigantium, the history of the province in “time windows” and the show “buchstäblich vorarlberg”, an alphabet of the region drawn from over 160,000 objects. Children get the family trail with Berta & Bert, everything is step-free, and a panorama window upstairs opens towards the lake. Admission is €12, €10 with the Montafon guest card, free up to the age of 19; buy online and you travel to and from the museum free on bus and train throughout Vorarlberg on the day of your visit. Open Tuesday to Sunday 10 am–6 pm, until 8 pm on the first Thursday.

Afterwards, climb in ten minutes to the upper town: town wall, Deuring-Schlössle and the Martinsturm with its Baroque onion dome, set between 1599 and 1601 on a 13th-century granary. Frescoes of 1362 survive in the Martin chapel, since 2015 the exhibition “Bregentz” in the tower tells the town's history, and from the arcaded storey you look out over town and lake (May to October Tue–Sun 10 am–6 pm, €5, children €2). From our house it is 76 km or an hour; the Kunsthaus Bregenz stands right next door (combined ticket €23).

Last updated: 13 Sep 2026