Natural History Museum Vienna
Wien | Website
Short Description
The Archive for the History of Science is divided into five collections according to its many different functions. The first consists of the relevant archives of the Natural History Museum in the strictest sense, above all files such as those belonging to museum directors from the time of the Monarchy, files of later directors, inventories and official correspondence. The second collection consists of bequests from persons who had little or nothing to do with the museum during their lifetime, together with a collection of various letters and manuscripts. The third, a particularly valuable and comprehensive collection, contains original paintings and graphic prints, and is known as the ‘picture collection’ for short. Historical photographs and glass-plate negatives form the fourth section. All physical objects, from printing blocks, old typewriters and cameras to busts etc. are kept in the fifth collection.
In addition to the collections the Archive also has a workshop for paper restoration and conservation, where smaller and larger restoration and conservation work is done.
Contact Person
DDr. Martin Krenn
Research Services
Providing access to archival material
Elaboration of expert reports
Providing support for scientific research und academic papers (especially related to the history of science)
Methods & Expertise for Research Infrastructure
Research about the history of the scientific disciplines at the Natural History Museum Vienna, museology, biographies, history of scientific theories, history of scientific expeditions, history of scientific and expedition photography, history of scientific illustration from the Early Modern Age until today, history of horticulture and gardens, history of zoos, cultural history of animal and plants, editing and processingof bequests and part-bequests, provenance research on objects and specimens kept at the Natural History Museum Vienna, research on paper conservation.
University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna
Schönbrunn Zoo
Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna
Donau-Auen National Park
State Library New South Wales, Australia
Society for the History of Natural History, London
since 2017 (ongoing project)
Authors: David Mabberley, Christa Riedl-Dorn, et.al.
Partner: State Library New South Wales, Bodleian Library Oxford University, Natural History Museum London
Edition of the Manuscript of "Flora der Donau-Auen bei Wien" by Siegfried Reissek (1861)
since 2016 (ongoing project)
Authors: Doris Rotter, Christa Riedl-Dorn, Luise Ehrendorfer-Schratt, Karoline Zsak
Partners: Nationalpark Donau-Auen GmbH, University Vienna - Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research
David John Mabberley: Painting by Numbers: The Life and Art of Ferdinand Bauer (University of New South Wales Press, Sydney, 2017).
Christa Riedl-Dorn: Botaniker-Pflanzenjäger-Intriganten? Die Rolle der Pflanzenkunde bei der Weltumsegelung der Fregatte "Novara" (1857-1859). In: I. Kästner, J. Kiefer, M. Kiehn, J. Seidl (Ed.): Europaische Wissenschaftsbeziehungen Band 7 - Erkunden, Sammeln, Notieren und Vermitteln: Wissenschaft im Gepäck von Handelsleuten, Diplomaten und Missionaren (Shaker Verlag, Aachen, 2014).
Christa Riedl-Dorn: On Endrés' traces: the Department Archives of the History of Science at the Natural History Museum in Vienna. In: C. Ossenbach, F. Pupulin and R. Jenny (Ed.): Orchids in the life and work of Auguste R. Endrés, Vol.1 (Vienna, 2013).
Christa Riedl-Dorn: Zur Geschichte der Ordnung und Katalogisierung in naturwissenschaftlichen Sammlungen. In: T. Hochradner, D. Reinhardt (Ed.): Rombach Wissenschaften-Reihe klang-reden Band 7: Inventar und Werkverzeichnis. Ordnung und Zählung als Faktoren der Rezeptionsgeschichte (Freiburg i.Br./ Berlin/ Wien, 2011).
Erica Pignatti-Wikus, Christa Riedl-Dorn, David John Mabberley: Ferdinand Bauer's field drawings of endemic Western Australian plants made at King George Sound and Lucky Bay, December 1801- January 1802. Part I. In: Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei serie 9, Vol. 11, fasc. 2 (Rom, 2000).