The Botanical Museum

The Botanical Museum was located on this site from the mid-19th century onwards. Towards the end of the Second World War, it was destroyed by aerial bombs. An eyewitness report describes the destruction of the building:

As the building was also largely destroyed by explosive bombs, this extinguishing operation proved to be extremely difficult. The books and magazines thrown out by the blast were salvaged from trees and bomb craters in dangerous and arduous labour by the self-defence forces. The books and print material buried under the rubble of the wall continued to burn for eight days and could not be salvaged, as the remains of the wall still standing threatened to collapse at any time.

In addition to books, the Botanical Museum also housed many herbarium specimens. Dry specimens such as fruits, seeds and tree trunks were also kept here. The collection was partly destroyed by the bombing, but some of it was saved and passed on to other research institutions. Since its destruction, Vienna no longer has a botanical museum.