Court Cabinett of Natural Objects (Vienna)

The Hof-Naturalien-Cabinet was the early form of Vienna’s Natural History Museum, founded when Emperor Franz Stephan bought Johann Ritter von Baillou’s collection in 1748. Its first focus was minerals and fossils because soft-bodied creatures could not yet be preserved. After Franz Stephan’s death in 1765 the state took over the cabinets and Maria Theresia appointed the geologist Ignaz von Born to expand them systematically. Under Emperor Franz II the collection grew to include a bird-and-mammal gallery built from Habsburg hunting trophies and donations such as those of Johann Natterer. Around 1800 some displays showed stuffed people as curiosities, including Angelo Soliman whose skin was exhibited until 1806. A separate plant gallery was added in 1807, begun with the emperor’s own herbarium. Karl von Schreibers reorganised the cabinets from 1806 to 1851, turning them into research departments staffed by officials and visiting scholars like Paul Partsch, who enriched the mineral section. After damage during the 1848 uprisings the collections were divided into zoological, botanical and mineralogical Hofkabinetts and moved within the Hofburg until the new museum opened in 1889.