The Weltmuseum Wien (former Museum of Ethnology) in Vienna is the largest

anthropological museum in Austria, established in 1876. It currently

resides in the Hofburg Imperial Palace and houses more than 400,000
ethnographical and archaeological objects from Asia, Africa, Oceania, and
America. Since November 2014 the museum was closed due to renovation and
was reopened on the 25th of October 2017.

Contents
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 1Collections
o 1.1Departments
 2History
o 2.1Ethnographic collections in Austria before 1876
o 2.2k.u.k. Monarchy
o 2.3From „Museum of Ethnology to "Weltmuseum Wien"
 3See also
 4References
 5External links

Collections[edit]
The museum’s collections comprise more than 200,000 ethnographic objects,
100,000 photographs and 146,000 printed works from all over the world.
Important collections include Mexican artifacts, such as a unique Aztec
feathered headdress; part of James Cook's collection
of Polynesian and Northwest Coast art (purchased in 1806); numerous Benin
bronzes; the collection of Charles von Hügel from India, Southeast Asia,
and China; collections from the Austrian Brazil Expedition; artifacts
collected during the circumnavigation of the globe by the SMS Novara; and
two of the remaining rongorongo tablets.
The museum's most famous piece is a feathered headdress misleadingly
believed to have belonged to Moctezuma, the ninth Aztec emperor, which has
created friction between the Mexican and the Austrian governments.
Although taken from Mexico as war booty by the Spanish in the 16th
century, Austria acquired it legally from France in 1880.
Departments[edit]
 Sub-Saharan Africa
 North Africa, Middle East, Central Asia and Siberia
 East Asia: China, Korea, Japan
 Insular Southeast Asia
 South Asia, Southeast Asia, Himalayas
 Oceania and Australia
 North and Central America
 South America
 Photo Collection
History[edit]
Ethnographic collections in Austria before 1876 [edit]
Early ethnographic collections in Austria date back to the 16th century.
The so-called “Kunst- und Wunderkammern“ comprised many objects, such as
the collection by [Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria], which was stored
in Ambras Castle in Innsbruck. In the course of the [Coalition Wars] these
objects were transferred to Vienna. Other important collections were
assembled by numerous explorers and travellers, such as Johann Natterer,
who accompanied the Austrian Brazil Expedition from 1817 to 1835, or the
scientists of the Austrian frigate ”SMS Novara” [1]
k.u.k. Monarchy[edit]
In 1876 the Imperial and Royal Court Museum of Natural History –
predecessor of the Museum of Ethnology – was established, consisting of
five departments. In the years following Archduke Franz Ferdinand of
Austria’s journey round the world (1892/93), the collections of the
Anthropological-Ethnographic Department were separated from the museum and
installed in the Hofburg Imperial Palace, combined with the Archduke’s
collection, which comprised more than 14,000 objects and around 1,100
photographs. This “Museum of Ethnology” was opened on 28 May 1928. In
the postwar period extensive reconstruction works were undertaken. The
museum also presented numerous temporary exhibitions at two permanent
outposts – Schloss Matzen and the Gaming Charterhouse.[1]
From „Museum of Ethnology to "Weltmuseum Wien" [edit]
In the 1990s and the early years of the new millennium a comprehensive
renovation of the museum became necessary. Amongst other things, the
cellars were adapted to depots, galleries were renovated and additional
office rooms were built. In the course of the semi-privatisation of
Austria’s federal museums, the museum was incorporated into the museum
group KHM-Museumsverband in 2001. In April 2013 the museum was renamed as
Weltmuseum Wien. Since November 2014 the museum is closed due to
renovation, in February 2015 the ground-breaking ceremony took pla