The Rupertinum, situated in the centre of the old town, was mentioned for the first time in 1350. Under archbishop Paris Lodron, the town palace „Collegium Rupertinum” was used as seminary. Finished in 1633, the town palace was built in early baroque style. The house has a prominent location between Franziskaner Church and Kollegien Church and has been used as seminary by the Archdioceses of Salzburg for many centuries.
Until 1974 the Rupertinum was used as student dormitory. In 1983 the Rupertinum was opened as Salzburg Museum of Modern Art and Graphic Collection.

Over the years the facilities of the Rupertinum have been adapted to comply with international standards; the most extensive refurbishment took place in 1999. Today the building offers ideal conditions for exhibitions of graphics and photographs.

On Max-Reinhardt-Square the building opens into a courtyard typical for houses of Salzburg’s old town.

With about 3,000 square metres of exhibition space the Museum der Moderne Salzburg presents year-round national and international exhibition projects in its two museums from the classical modern to current art since the end of the 2nd World War to contemporary art. The collection policy focuses on internationalisation with a vision based on content.

The Museum der Moderne Salzburg used to consist only of the Rupertinum Art Museum between the Franziskanerkirche and the Festival Halls, but recently it was extended and now occupies a new site on the Mönchsberg. It is dedicated to pot-war and contemporary art.

The "Rupertinum" is the older sister of the Museum der Moderne Salzburg. As the MMS, it is owned by the federal province of Salzburg. Since 1983, it occupies a Baroque townhouse in the heart of the city, to the opposite of the Franziskanerkirche. It focuses on graphics, but changing exhibitions tend to have themes from a variety of different art forms.