Weltmuseum Wien

The Weltmuseum Wien stands in the Hofburg Imperial Palace in the centre of Vienna. It is the largest anthropological museum in Austria, formed in 1876 from earlier collections. The building once housed the Anthropological-Ethnographic Department of the Natural History Museum. Its holdings include more than 400,000 objects from Asia, Africa, Oceania and America. The museum was known as the Museum of Ethnology until 2013. Before 1928 it shared its origins with the collections now in the Natural History Museum. The museum’s most famous piece is a feathered headdress said to have belonged to Moctezuma II. Among its holdings are part of James Cook’s Polynesian and Northwest Coast art, Benin Bronzes, and two rongorongo tablets. Charles von Hügel’s collection covers India, Southeast Asia and China. The Austrian Brazil Expedition and the circumnavigation of the globe by the SMS Novara added further material. The museum’s Photo Collection contains 100,000 images and its library holds 146,000 printed works. Visitors enter through the Hofburg wing and find galleries arranged by world regions. Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia and Oceania each have dedicated displays. The South America section shows artefacts from the Austrian Brazil Expedition. A highlight is the Aztec feathered headdress in a secure case. Temporary exhibitions occupy the central hall, often curated with international artists. The opening show in 2017 featured performances by artists from several continents.