Grand staircase

Objects such as the gemstone bouquet (12) and the orrery (14) are evidence of the emperor’s passion for collecting and his tremendous interest in natural history. As the owner of mines and factories, he attached particular importance to the collection of minerals, pursuing the economic objectives that would later benefit the industrial development of the empire.
The oldest collection exhibits – such as the basilisk (61) and Emerald (11) hand specimen – are representative of a quite different approach to collecting. The “cabinets of art and curiosities” of the 15th and 16th centuries were designed not only to display the diversity of Creation, but also to impress people with the most exotic and fantastic objects imaginable. Objects from distant countries were especially popular, as well as those that could be associated with mythical creatures.
Following the death of the emperor in 1765, his wife Maria Theresa presented the natural history cabinet to the nation, and henceforth it was open to the public twice a week. As the oldest admission ticket (100) dating from the year 1798 shows, each visitor received a personal hand-written ticket.
It was at this time that the combined imperial and royal natural history cabinets became a first-class research institute far superior to the university. For instance, the NHM owned what was then the largest collection of intestinal worms. It included a particular rarity: Dr. Sömmerring’s fish tapeworm (52). Every effort was made to arrange all the collections in accordance with the latest scientific advances.
The Hraschina meteorite (17) from the treasury was incorporated in the natural history cabinet as long ago as 1778, thus laying the cornerstone for the oldest collection of meteorites in the world.
In the late 18th and 19th centuries, daring explorers undertook expeditions to distant countries that included Australia and New Zealand, Brazil, and even the islands of the Caribbean. Exotic objects, such as the arapaima (64) from the Amazon Basin, Cuvier’s smooth-fronted caiman (72), and the moas (77) from New Zealand, all caused quite a stir.
A shortage of space coupled with the many flammable alcohol specimens in the Imperial Palace led to the erection of a new building on the Ringstrasse. On 10 August 1889, Emperor Franz Joseph I opened a universal work of art dedicated to “the kingdom of nature and its discovery”. The decorative façade, 100 oil paintings, and the interior decorations were designed to harmonize with the exhibits. The diversity of life on Earth was presented in a total of 39 halls.
Ever since this time, the museum’s intensive research activities have continued to unearth sensational finds for the museum. One of the highlights of the archeological excavations was the exciting discovery in 1908 of the Venus of Willendorf (36). The annual excavation campaigns in Hallstatt turned up evidence of prehistoric salt mining, such as a leather bag (42) and a bronze scoop (43). More than a century after it was discovered, the museum’s anthropologists were able to use the latest technology to definitively date the skull from Mladecˇ (47). The world’s largest fossil oyster reef (26) – destroyed by a tsunami 17 million years ago – was unearthed and researched by paleontologists from the NHM.