Whether a visit to see the Venus of Willendorf, a tour of the powerful gallery rooms, exciting children's tours, or a rooftop view of Vienna's first district, the Museum of Natural History offers surprises for visitors large and small.
The show room with the dinosaurs is one of the favorites of young researchers of nature. The world's first life-size model of a terror bird, along with exhibits of a fascinating horned dinosaur skull, complement the impressive permanent collection.
The Venus of Willendorf also tells her history and bears witness to the beginnings of our culture 25,000 years ago.
The human being and its development are in focus in the Anthropology Halls. In addition to skeletons and soft tissue reconstructions of early humans, visitors can also examine a virtual skeleton by means of a microscope, magnifying glass or X-ray machine for age, gender, illness and cause of death. At a morphing station, visitors transform into early humans and can send their "old countenance" to friends via email.
And the Gem Hall of the museum literally shines with its giant topaz (117 kilograms) and the jewel bouquet of Maria Theresia. The world's biggest and oldest collection of meteorites - with 1,100 rocks that have "fallen from the sky" - can be seen in the meteorite room. And with the aid of a simulator, a powerful meteorite impact can be shown on a screen in 3D.
In the Mezzanine of the Natural History Museum Vienna there is a series of 15 free-standing exhibits from the fields of mineralogy, geology, and anthropology designed especially with blind visitors to the museum in mind. A map and the object descriptions are also available in Braille at the information.
Comments
All facilities suitable for wheelchair users (except the roof guide! Access to restaurant/café: no steps. Seeing-eye dogs permitted in exhibition area.
