Page 132 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Vienna

130  VIENNA AREA B Y AREA MUSEUM AND T OWNHALL QU AR TER  131

q Naturhistorisches Museum The central cupola VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
was designed by
Around 700,000 visitors every year come to Johannes Benk Practical Information
around 1881. It is
see the frescoed ceilings and 39 grand halls crowned by a bronze Maria-Theresien-Platz, A-1010.
of the Natural History Museum Vienna, which statue of the Greek Map 3 C1 & 5 A4. Tel 521770.
Open 9am–9pm Wed, 9am–
dates back to 1889. It also houses 30 million god Helios. 6:30pm Thu–Mon. Closed Tue,
fascinating objects – from fossils of the very 1 Jan, 25 Dec. & 7 - =
first life on Earth, to meteorites and a display ∑ nhm-wien.ac.at
on interstellar travel plotted in the digital Transport
planetarium. Particularly noteworthy % Volkstheater. @ 48A.
v D, 1, 2, 46, 49, 71.
are the replicas of huge dinosaur
skeletons, an almost complete Zigzag Herons
Part of the Birds of the World display,
skeleton of Steller’s sea cow, the . Salt Bag this pair came from Brazil more than
full-size preservations of extinct This Bronze Age cowhide 150 years ago.
animals, and the collections of bag was used to carry salt
butterflies, birds, gems and in the Hallstatt mines. Museum Guide
prehistoric sculptures. The museum displays cover two floors. To the
right of the entrance on the ground floor are the
rooms devoted to gemstones and mineralogy; to
the left are the rooms housing the displays
Digital Planetarium that chart the evolution of humans
First floor
and also contain the prehistoric
collections. The first floor
Lecturehall is dedicated to the huge
variety of animal life.

Ground floor

Hraschina Iron Meteorite
The museum houses the world’s
. Venus of Willendorf oldest and largest collection
Made about 29,500 years ago, of meteorites. This one fell in
this tiny limestone figure is Zagreb, Croatia, in 1751.
one of the most important
examples of Stone Age art
work. The purpose of the Maria-Theresien-Platz
figurine is unknown. This square separating the Kunsthistorisches Museum from the
Naturhistorisches Museum focuses on an 1888 statue of Maria
Theresa (see pp30–31) by
Key to Floorplan Kaspar von Zumbusch. It
Main entrance from
Mineralogy shows the Empress clasping
Maria-Theresien-Platz
Geology, Palaeontology the Pragmatic Sanction of
1713, which made it possible
Prehistory
for a woman to succeed to the
Anthropology throne. Below, her generals
Zoology are portrayed setting forth
Temporary exhibition space . Cast of Iguanodon on horseback from four spurs
Non-exhibition space bernissartensis . Gemstone Bouquet projecting from the base of
This is just one of the A birthday gift in 1764 from the statue, while further back
replica dinosaur skeletons that Maria Theresa to her husband against the plinth stand her
are on display. The collection includes Franz Stephen of Lorraine, this principal nobles and advisors.
some of the largest casts in the world. piece contains 2,102 diamonds.

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