Description of the attraction
The Ethnological Museum is the largest ethnographic and anthropological museum in Austria. Located in one of the parts of the former imperial residence of the Hofburg. The museum was founded in 1876: it was then that the ethnological department at the Natural History Museum appeared. The first exhibits were brought even earlier, in the first decade of the 19th century. Many travelers and sailors helped to collect the collection. Museum archives grew rapidly, so in 1928 the Ethnological Museum began to work independently of the Natural History Museum. So, now the museum has about 250 thousand different exhibits from all over the world: Asia, Oceania, Africa.
The exposition of the museum helps its visitors to learn more about the development of mankind on earth, about the similarities and differences of cultures and traditions of different peoples of the world, to get acquainted with the peculiarities of everyday life and traditional crafts. The museum is proud of its valuable exhibits. For example, the crown of the leader of the Aztecs, made from feathers of different birds, the collection of James Cook. In addition, bronze items, antique textiles, finds from the Amazon region and much more are of great interest.
The oriental collection is represented by ancient Japanese masks that date back to the 8th century. They were brought by Franz Ferdinand, traveling in the East in the 19th century. A great contribution to the museum collection was made by Baron von Hugel, who was an ardent explorer and admirer of Southeast Asia. Thanks to the baron, the museum has an Indian collection of jewelry, weapons, and various religious artifacts.
There is a good souvenir shop at the museum, where you can buy high-quality copies of the most interesting and famous exhibits of the museum.
