This has to be one of the nastiest museums I've ever visited.
It starts with stuff that you'd expect: a torture rack from medieval times, the odd truncheon or two, balls and chains from prisons and a spiked stick here and there. Nothing completely out of the ordinary.
But as the museum moves on, it gets more surreal and bloodthirsty. It showcases some of Austria's most famous murder cases, but it does so by putting up black and white photos of the scene of crime, plus - as if that weren't enough - the actual objects used to commit it, some of them still bloodstained. I will never forget the enormous iron mincer that some woman finally swung at her cheating, violent husband, still sporting its burgundy stain in the display case, and positioned right in front of the photo showing it embedded in his skull and surrounded by a pool of blood.
I came out of the museum feeling sick to the core, and having learned very little. I was also astonished that some families had brought children there, and were still lingering even when the tone of the museum was downright horrific even for adults. This museum is not particularly educative, and it's more voyeuristic than anything else. It tells you nothing at all about the Austrian psychology, or why crimes are committed. That said, I do wonder whether - and if so, how - they're going to update it to reflect the most recent famous Austrian crimes of the abduction of Natascha Kampusch, or the Fritzl case.
Please don't support this museum by giving it your money. Honestly, there's nothing to be seen there that you'd want to remember. And if you must go, don't bring any children with you. read more