5 . T H E
W O R L D
M U S E U M
HELDENPLATZ
The World Museum (Weltmuseum Wien) - the
former Museum of Ethnology - contains extensive
collections of ethnographic items, historical
photographs and books about non-European
civilizations, which makes it one of the leading
ethnographic museums in the world. It dates back
to 1806 when the "Imperial and Royal Ethnographic
Collection" was created as part of the Imperial
Cabinet of Natural History after the partial
acquisition of the Cook Collection. Then the
collection was transferred to the anthropological
and ethnographic department of the court museum
of natural history in 1876. The Museum of Ethnology
was officially opened in the Corpus de Logis, Neue
Burg, in 1928.
The first exhibits of the Weltmuseum Wien date
back to the 16th century. Revived chambers of art
and curiosities included very popular exotic objects.
The collection of the Archduke Ferdinand II in the
castle of Amber in Tyrol contained many important
ethnographic artifacts, including pre-Columbian
and colonial pen objects, treasures from Mexico and
examples of African-Portuguese ivory carving.
During the Napoleonic Wars, the Ambras collection
was in Vienna. In addition to the Ambras collection
and nearly 250 items collected by James Cook
(1728-1779) on his travels and acquired in London in
1806, the foundation of the Imperial and Royal
Ethnographic Collection was laid by collections
brought from the Austrian Brazilian expedition
(1817-1836), primarily objects collected by naturalist
Johann Nutter, and a collection collected during
the travel around the world of the Austrian frigate
Novara between 1857 and 1859.
After the destruction of the old fortifications of
Vienna and the subsequent urban development and
expansion of the old city, the Imperial and Royal
Court of Natural History Museum replaced the
venerable "courtrooms" in 1876.