Discover Vienna: The Natural History Museum

Austria

by Sanjay (Sergio) Jiandani May 11, 2015 8:24 pm 838 views

ESCToday in collaboration with Vienna Tourist Board (Wien.info) will be bringing you a series of articles leading up to the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest in order to showcase and introduce the 2015 Eurovision host city Vienna to our readers. Today we will have a look at the Natural History Museum in the Eurovsion host city!

 If you are visiting Vienna with your kids, then they will love the Natural History Museum along with its pre-historic artefacts, Dinosaur Hall, Animals Hall, Insects Hall, Meteorite Hall, Anthropology Hall,  etc. A very educational experience indeed both for us adults and children! You will come up close and personal with nature and history when you visit Vienna’s Natural History Museum.

The history of the earth and the breathtaking variety of nature can be practically experienced due to 20 million objects: From insects to gemstones and minerals and pterodactyls, the Habsburgs united everything under the roof of this museum near the Imperial Palace. Numerous taxidermy specimens of animals that are either extinct or threatened with extinction make the collection all the more valuable.

The Venus of Willendorf also tells her history and bears witness to the beginnings of our culture 25,000 years ago. One of the highlights of the museum, in addition to this prehistoric stone figure which is named after the place in the Wachau valley where it was found, is the skeleton cast of a dinosaur, a Diplodocus.

The Dinosaur Hall, which was redesigned in 2011, is full of the skeletons and remains of gigantic prehistoric animals, as well as a realistic allosaurus, which moves and gives out a terrifying roar. The model was built for the Museum of Natural History on the basis of the latest scientific findings. The world’s first life-size model of a terror bird in its original size, along with new exhibits of a fascinating horned dinosaur skull, complement the impressive permanent collection.

The Gem Hall of the museum literally shines with its giant topaz (117 kilograms) and the jewel bouquet of Maria Theresia. And during a guided tour one can enjoy a unique view of the old city of Vienna from the roof of the museum.

It has been possible to marvel at the world’s biggest and oldest collection of meteorites in the reopened meteorite room since November 2012. 1,100 rocks that have fallen from the sky can be seen there. And with the aid of simulator, a powerful meteorite impact can be shown on a screen in 3D.

The architectural mirror image of the Museum of Natural History is the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum) on the opposite side, which was also built according to designs by Gottfried Semper and Karl von Hasenauer.

How to get there?

Both the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Natural History Museum are located at Maria-Theresien Platz next to the Imperial Hofburg Palace and close to the MuseumsQuartier. The best way to get the museums is via the metro U-Bahn: U2 the Purple Line and get down at MuseumsQuartier or at Volkstheater / U3 the Orange Line and get down at Volkstheater.

For more information on Vienna you can visit Wien.info and for the latest news on ESC 2015 in Vienna  ORF’s Eurovision website in German.

You can follow our forthcoming series of Discover Vienna articles with photographs and videos on ESCToday.com and on our official Esctoday Instagram and ESCToday Facebook pages.

Stay tuned to ESCToday for the latest news on Vienna, Austria and 2015 Eurovision Song Contest.

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