Natural History Museum, located in Vienna, is considered one of the most important museums, not only in Austria, but throughout the world. It was opened in 1889 in conjunction with the Museum of Art History. Buildings are absolutely identical both museums and geographically separated area of ​​Maria Theresa. The museum was built to house the huge collection of the Habsburgs. Both buildings were built between 1872 and 1891 years on the Ringstrasse plan Gottfried Semper and Karl von Hazenauera.

The first collection of the exhibits was bought by Emperor Franz Joseph I in Natterer in 1793. It has about 30,000 exhibits, among which were interesting minerals, corals, snails, various types from all over the world. In 1806 the museum acquired a collection of insects of European belonging Johann Karl von Megerle.

Today the museum has more than 20 million exhibits, which are located in an area of ​​8700 square meters in 29 different themed rooms. Halls of the museum are decorated with antique furniture, which creates a sense of "museum in a museum."

The most famous exhibit of the museum is, for example, the Venus of Willendorf. This statue was found in the Danube Valley in the early 20th century. Statuette woman okolo11 cm height was made of limestone around 25,000 BC. The museum exhibits other valuable: the skeleton of a dinosaur Diplodocus, samples of extinct animals and plants, such as Steller's sea cow (sea cow), the extermination of a man in the 18th century.

On the ground floor of the museum is represented by the fauna from the simplest to the highly developed mammals. On the upper floor of the museum exhibited a collection of minerals and precious stones, as well as unique resources. One of the most interesting exhibits can be called a large topaz weight kg B117.

His main task of the museum considers the ability to deliver the results of scientific research and discovery to a wider audience.