Anna Spitzmüller
Anna Spitzmüller (1903–2001) was an Austrian art historian, curator, and educator who taught generations of American college students through the Austro-American Institute of Education.
She was born on September 6, 1903, in Znojmo, Moravia (then Austria-Hungary). Her family was well established and connected to Austria’s cultural and political life. She grew up in a free, socially active environment and learned several languages, including Czech, French, and English. After private schooling and attending Vienna’s Rahlgasse Girls’ Gymnasium, she decided to become an art historian in 1920 after visiting an exhibition of tapestries.
In 1921 she began studies at the University of Vienna and earned her degree in 1926. Her dissertation looked at the Strudel brothers and their role in court art under Emperor Leopold I. Her first major project was an inventory of Carinthian monuments for the Dehio catalog.
Back in Vienna, Spitzmüller worked for the Albertina museum under director Alfred Stix, helping to catalog the Albertina’s drawings and focusing on Italian works. When the Nazis took over Austria, she helped protect the collections, storing many artworks in the Salzkammergut salt mines. After the war, she joined the effort to recover and sort artworks in Munich and Vienna, and she helped secure important connections with France, organizing collaborations and exhibitions.
In 1948 she reached a high curator rank and worked at the Albertina until 1954. She then moved to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, where she aimed to make the collections more accessible to the public, encourage school visits, and organize lectures and symposiums. She also helped found the Austrian chapter of Zonta International.
When she retired in 1969, she received the title Hofrat, became an honorary member of the Austrian Art Historians Association, and was awarded the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. She gave a talk at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., about Bruegel.
Even after retirement, Spitzmüller continued teaching American students through the Austro-American Institute and built a long connection with Hope College in Michigan. Hope College honored her in 1987 for her work with Viennese art.
She was also a talented musician and participated in activities with the Vienna Philharmonic. In 1993 the Albertina recorded her memories in a video history focused on her time there. Anna Spitzmüller died on September 25, 2001, in Vienna.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 06:01 (CET).