Naturhistorisches Museum
Vienna's natural history museum is a place of contrasts. If you're looking for an engaging, multimedia trip into the world of science and nature, you're in for a disappointment. But if you want to step back in time and experience that same world through the eyes of nineteenth century science, then you're in your element.
The building itself dates back to 1889 and is the counterpoint (and mirror image) of the world-famous Art History Museum on the other side of the square. The Greek sun god, Helios, stands atop the central dome, but it's the interior of the museum that catches the eye most.
The huge staircases, stone archways, carvings, oil paintings, and glorious ceilings offer a majestic setting which the displays are hard put to live up to.
At the bottom of the museum there's a vivarium and aquarium featuring live animals, birds and fish, including enough of the poisonous and scary sort to keep the kids happy.
The next floor up (the "upper ground floor") features a large mineral and geological collection, as well as prehistoric and anthropological displays.
The mineral display is very low-key, but the collection is one of the best of its kind. A particular and unusual highlight is a 35cm "bouquet of flowers" made entirely of silk and precious gems.
The anthropological section is inevitably Austria-oriented and features two items of particular significance. The Venus von Willendorf is a 25,000 year old limestone representation of a rather obese woman, regarded by experts as a priceless example of prehistoric art.
"Fanny" or the Venus vom Galgenberg — a small statue of a woman made from amphibolite — is even older, dating back 32,000 years.
This level also features a small, but impressive, collection of reconstructed dinosaur skeletons, including a full-length Diplodocus.
The upper viewing level (first floor) has a shop, cafe and displays of mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and invertebrates (insects etc.). Which often means row after row of dead creatures.
The quality varies. On the one hand you have an impressive new high-tech exhibit on sharks, commemorating the work of Oscar-winner Hans Hass. But you'll also find ancient display cases featuring stuffed mammals looking their age (up to 200 years).
The collection itself is of immense historical worth, of course, dating back to the expeditions sponsored by various Emperors and including rarities acquired at great expense by the likes of Emperor Franz Stephan, husband of the ruling Empress Maria Theresia. (His portrait hangs on the main staircase.) But your enjoyment of it all depends on how important that is to you.
Mind you, it's intriguing to see stuffed specimens of famous, extinct species. Like the Dodo, Tasmanian Tiger or Steller's sea cow.
The cafe is not cheap but the quality is very good and it has a wonderful collection of cakes. And where else can you have your coffee and Sachertorte under the watchful gaze of a giant crab gifted by the Emperor of Japan.
In summary, the museum is in transition. Slowly, but surely, it's catching up with the demands of a modern tourist attraction, though to be fair much of its work is of a scientific nature, rather than a touristic one.
There's a space for special exhibitions on the upper ground floor, for example, which always features excellent presentations. Yet there remain plenty of displays which look largely unchanged from the day they were first installed many decades ago. And your enjoyment and understanding of the whole may be tempered by the relative lack of display information in English.
Tip: While adults without any particular interest in the collections or the architecture may be ambivalent about a visit, kids love it there. You can easily fill a couple of hours showing them the aquarium, kids area (with stuffed farm animals and microscopes) and displays before rounding the visit off with a drink and snack at the cafe.
Getting there
The Natural History Museum is easy to reach. It's on Vienna's Ring, which surrounds the city center, and a short walk from stops on the trams 1, 2, D, J, 46 and 49, the buses 2a and 48a and the subway lines U2 and U3 (the station is Volkstheater / Museumsquartier (MQ): make sure you exit the station by following the signs for "Museen" and not the MQ).
When you reach the museum area, you'll find two identical looking buildings on either side of a square. The one with the elephant statue in front of it is the Natural History Museum. The other building opposite is Vienna's Art History Museum.
Once you enter the museum proper you're in the main atrium. There's an information desk straight ahead of you with folders in English, coat hooks in a niche to your left, and a supervised cloakroom on the right, where you can check-in your belongings in total safety in return for a donation. The staff are friendly and helpful.
Address: Naturhistorisches Museum, Maria Theresien-Platz, 1010 Vienna
Website: http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/ (includes some information in English)