Natural History Museum Vienna

Opening hours:
Thursday-Monday: 9 a.m. - 6.30 p.m.
Wednesday: 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Tuesday: closed
last entrance half an hour before closing time

Burgring 7
1010 Vienna
T +43 1 52177-0
info@nhm-wien.ac.at
www.nhm-wien.ac.at

The Natural History Museum of Vienna houses more than 30 million objects, thus being one of the largest natural history museums in the world. Up to 750,000 visitors per year enjoy the wide variety of specimens and artifacts, as well as prehistoric and anthropological exhibits in a unique historic atmosphere.

The museum in its present form was designed as a universal work of art dedicated to the “the kingdom of nature and its discovery” by the architects Gottfried Semper and Carl von Hasenauer. The building situated at the Wiener Ringstraße was officially opened on August 10, 1889 by Emperor Franz Joseph I. Since then, 39 exhibition halls on two floors provide an unforgettable impression of earth history and the diversity of life. Gemstones and minerals, rare fossils and huge dinosaurs, the largest and oldest meteorite collection in the world, a state-of-the-art exhibition on the origin and development of humans as well as varying special exhibitions on fascinating topics are presented besides a huge number of animals ranging from simple marine organisms to highly developed mammals. Among the most precious objects count the 29,500-year-old-figure of the “Venus of Willendorf”, a masterpiece of Paleolithic mobile art and one of the most famous archeological finds in the world, and the gemstone bouquet, a gift from Maria Theresa to her husband.

In recent years, most galleries have been gradually redesigned, now featuring state-of-the-art technology and presentation methods. In 2015, the prehistoric galleries were re-opened and enlarged by the Venus Cabinet and the Gold Cabinet. Another highlight was opened in 2014: the Digital Planetarium, which offers sensational insights into our solar system and presents exciting films in fulldome projection.

Behind the scenes, 60 scientists are working on cutting-edge issues in various fields of human sciences, earth sciences, and life sciences. They focus on the origin of our solar system, try to gain new genetic and systematic knowledge about plants and animals, and deal with fundamental questions about the evolution of mankind and the development of human culture. This makes the NHM Vienna one of the largest non-university research institutions in Austria.