Owing to his personal friendship with Oskar Kokoschka the museum also received a great number of works from the Austrian expressionist.

Perched on top of the steep cliff of Mönchsberg mountain, sixty metres above Anton-Neumayr-Square, the Café Winkler has dominated the city for decades.

When the casino moved into the baroque palace Klessheim on the outskirts of Salzburg, the Café Winkler stood empty for many years and this landmark building that served as a counterpoint to the medieval fortress lost its splendour.

In 1998, on the initiative of Landeshauptmann Franz Schausberger the state of Salzburg launched an international architectural competition for the construction of a new building for a museum on Mönchsberg.

An 11-member jury chaired by Luigi Snozzi, selected the design of the Munich-based team of architects Friedrich Hoff Zwink from among 145 submissions.

The museum was built in three and a half years and offers maximum possibilities for a variety of exhibition formats on four levels.