Neue Burg forms a semi-circular wing of the Hofburg Palace complex, commissioned for the Habsburg Imperial Family in 1881. The palace is of spectacular Baroque design inside and out; it originally contained the personal memorabilia of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination in 1914 sparked World War I.
Today visitors can take in several world-class museums in one go in these ornate halls, including the Hofjägd und Rüstkammer collection of 15th- and 16th-century armor, a wide variety of antique wind and string instruments in the Sammlung Alter Musik Instrumente, and ancient treasures unearthed during the Austrian excavations in Ephesus from 1895 to 1906.