The composer's parents, Franz Schubert, a schoolmaster, and his wife Maria, a cook, lived in an apartment in the house, then called Zum roten Krebsen ("The Red Crab"), in Himmelpfortgrund [de], a district of Vienna.

Their son Franz was born here on 31 January 1797; he was the twelfth of fourteen children, of whom five survived infancy.

The family lived here until 1801, when they moved to their own house in Säulengasse, a short distance away.

[1][2] A large part of the top floor is now a museum dedicated to the composer: it documents his life and musical development, and his circle of friends.

Among the exhibits is a pair of spectacles worn by Schubert.