A poetic deep dive into Wunderkammer: Voliere, the permanent art installation at Hotel Galántha in Eisenstadt. Opposite Esterházy Palace, birds, myths, music, and modernity collide in this contemporary cabinet of curiosities—curated by Vitus Weh with Katharina Hoffmann for Esterházy Contemporary.
Wunderkammer-Voliere is a project by Esterházy Now Contemporary – Hotel Galántha, Eisenstadt, Burgenland
Let’s be honest—most hotel lobbies are designed to make you feel vaguely rich and quietly bored.
But this one? It sings. Literally.
A swirling, ornithological fever dream—a cabinet of curiosities where birds rule the roost and metaphors fly.
Inside Hotel Galántha in Eisenstadt, just opposite the Esterházy Palace, the Wunderkammer: Voliere—a permanent installation by Esterházy Now Contemporary—isn’t just a visual detour.
It’s a full-blown conceptual opera starring birds, myths, music, and humans with a flair for obsession.
The brainchild of Vitus Weh, developed in collaboration with the incredibly sharp Katharina Hoffmann, the Voliere turns the hotel foyer into a contemporary cabinet of curiosities.
Wunderkammer - Voliere - All Artists
It riffs on baroque traditions, echoes Forchtenstein’s treasure chambers, and builds a micro-mythology of flight, fantasy, and feathered things.
At its glowing center is Königin der Nacht by Thomas Baumann—a cage-sculpture hybrid made from a 1910 dressmaker's dummy, LED rings, and opera rage.
This isn’t just décor. It’s a curated cosmos.
The door is open, but she’s still trapped. Or is she? The contradiction hums. Just like the nightingale she out-sings.
Birds, Baroque, and Bizarre Fantasies: Inside Eisenstadt’s Hidden Cabinet of Curiosities
Edith Payer goes full surrealist in Vogelperspektive, turning famous opera composers into half-parrot avatars—Mozart, Verdi, Wagner—each placed in their own fantastical stage set.
Edith Payer – Vogelperspektive Artworks placed around Hotel Galántha as part of the permanent installation Wunderkammer: Voliere, curated by Esterházy Now Contemporary. Image: Timo Afentulidis
Her Ornithologische Gemäldegalerie pulls birds from centuries-old paintings and gives them star billing, reclaiming the background with forensic charm.
Magdalena Maller paints The Magic Flute, Part Twelve—yes, seriously—as if opera sequels were a multiverse.
Esterházy Now Contemporary | Hotel Galántha, Eisenstadt Details of Magdalena Maller’s The Magic Flute, Part Twelve , captured by Timo Afentulidis, is a lyrical presence in Wunderkammer: Voliere — a permanent installation that blends contemporary art with echoes of history.
József Csató constructs Stage Cages that flicker between baroque theater and aviary dream.
József Csató Stage Cages | Wunderkammer: Voliere A contribution to the permanent installation at Hotel Galántha, curated by Vitus Weh with Katharina Hoffmann for Esterházy Now Contemporary. Photo: Timo Afentulidis.
Ernst Koslitsch’s Großer gelber Vogelbaum bursts upward like a thought you almost had but couldn’t quite land.
Leo Lunger casts thoughts like fossils—his Bibliothek der offenen Bücher traps sketches, tools, and half-formed ideas in resin and concrete, turning creative process into relic.
These books can’t be opened, but they still speak.
Hugo Canoilas channels the spirit of alchemy—fossils, ceramics, and lithographs collide in his tribute to transformation and the secret life of objects.
It’s less display case, more time machine.
Hugo Canoilas at Hotel Galántha Take a poetic dive into Wunderkammer: Voliere — a permanent art installation where myth, nature, and contemporary gestures intertwine. Photo by Timo Afentulidis.
Design greats flutter through: Josef Frank’s Gröna Fåglar curtain from the '40s, Dagobert Peche’s fantastical Wundervogel wallpaper, and Felice Rix-Ueno’s Blütengarten—each reactivated as habitats for contemporary works.
Left image: Josef Frank’s Gröna Fåglar | Courtesy of Esterházy Now Contemporary Right: Artworks by Katrin Plavčak | Wallpaper design by Dagobert Peche Part of Wunderkammer: Voliere — the permanent installation at Hotel Galántha, captured by Timo Afentulidis.
Anna Artaker’s trompe-l'œil Menagerie turns the viewer into the bird; you’re not just looking in, you’re in it.
This isn’t just an exhibition. It’s a psychological aviary.
A museum, a fiction, a place to read, sit, and feel slightly haunted.
And it’s always there—free, open, and a little strange.
Just like the best kind of art.
Opposite Esterházy Palace, grab a coffee and wander into the Wunderkammer: Voliere at Hotel Galántha. It's free, it’s wild, and it’s permanent.
Let the art, curated by Vitus Weh and the incredible Katharina Hoffmann for Esterházy Contemporary, surprise you.
Birds optional. Wonder guaranteed.
Esterhazy Now Contemporary + Katharina Hoffmann Curator on Instagram!
Curatorial collaboration: Sofie Mogensen (Finerum, Vienna) and Katharina Hoffmann
Library consulting: Hans-Otto Hügel, Professor of Pop Culture (Mainz/Hildesheim)
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