Exhibition: Good Collecting – Bad Collecting

Good Collecting – Bad Collecting

Special exhibition from 28 April 2026 to 27 June 2027 on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Natural History Museum Vienna.

On 29 April 1876, Emperor Franz Joseph I formally founded the Natural History Museum Vienna with his signature; on 30 April 1876 he appointed the geologist Ferdinand von Hochstetter as its first director. At that time, the museum building on Vienna’s Ringstraße was already well under construction, and the ceremonial opening finally took place in August 1889.

Today, with more than 30 million objects, the museum houses one of the world’s most important natural science collections. The NHM Vienna is a unique archive documenting the origin and development of the Earth and of life.

Its 150th anniversary provides the NHM Vienna with an opportunity for a critical reflection on its own history.

The passion for collecting and the joy of discovery and research that continue to drive scientists today are set against the darker sides of collecting and of collections. Some objects appear Janus-faced: scientifically unique, yet burdened by problematic contexts of acquisition.

Were the famous expeditions of the 19th century an honorable attempt to expand knowledge and acquire exotic objects for the imperial collections — or was a colonial agenda the true motivation? How were objects handled that entered the museum unlawfully during the Nazi era, and how should items be assessed that found their way into the collections through ethically questionable means?