Naturhistorisches Museum Wien – Half 1 – Love within the Time of Chasmosaurs

There’s many pure historical past museums on this world. Not lots of them appear to be this:

Granted, this isn’t the museum we’re speaking about, though it does certainly look related. The above picture is of the practically similar Kunsthistorisches Museum throughout the sq..

Cross the sq., to the opposite facet of the bombastic monument to Empress Maria Theresia. Right here is the actual topic of immediately’s tour:

That’s proper, we’re in Vienna immediately and we’re going to see the well-known Naturhistorisches Museum. Vienna is a metropolis blessed, or perhaps cursed, with extra dazzling palaces than any European metropolis would fairly know what to do with. A literal embarrassment of riches. Enter the constructing, climb the marble staircase, marvel on the work that adorn the primary corridor, the spectacular baroque structure of the nineteenth-century constructing itself, the strict trying statues and the numerous, many delicious ornaments and particulars and it’s onerous to not be impressed. And that’s earlier than we’ve even seen the gathering.

Like its arty twin throughout the street, the NHM exists in its present kind since 1889, however the historical past of the establishment goes again a lot additional. In 1750 Emperor Franz I, Maria Theresia’s husband, aquired the gathering of Jean de Baillou, on the time the biggest assortment of pure historical past objects on the planet, laying the foundations for what we see immediately. A featured portray by Franz Messmer in the primary staircase corridor depicts a fictionalized model of this transaction.

The museum expertise is split right into a decrease degree and an higher degree. The decrease degree halls take you on a journey via time, from the geological beginnings of the Earth via the fossil report of the phanerozoic eon as much as archaeological finds related to the earliest people. The higher degree, in the meantime, is a journey via the animal kingdom as it may be discovered immediately. It’s on the higher degree that we began our tour.

In true nineteenth century trend, the tour takes us from the “decrease” to the “increased” types of life, starting with single-celled organisms and transferring by way of bugs, fish, reptiles and birds as much as the noble and mighty mammals, ending, after all, with primates. Actual old school march of progress stuff. The implication is that the extra like a human one thing is, the higher it should be. Stands to cause. Of all of the fossils discovered within the constructing, this hierarchical view of the world is perhaps probably the most antiquated of all. Nonetheless, we would as nicely have some type of organizing precept for our nature museum, and this isn’t the würst (particularly in comparison with my dwelling museum of Naturalis, which appears to haven’t any organizing precept in any respect). If there’s a worth to preserving the historical past of the pure world, perhaps there’s additionally a worth to preserving the historical past of the science of pure historical past itself.

The Ernst Haeckel-saal exhibits not solely the microcosmos itself however principally our personal uneasy relationship to it. All types of horrible microbial illnesses, from malaria to rabies, are described and depicted with a sure diploma of relish. Admittedly, it’s an efficient option to remind your guests to scrub their fingers.

In a while, we observe a large number of beautifully-made glass fashions of jellyfish. I beloved these. I additionally had the privilege of seeing stay jellyfish on a number of events throughout my week in Vienna, and I really feel our data of those fascinating creatures has come a great distance even in my lifetime.

The insect corridor was the primary actual spotlight. Not solely was there an awesome number of specimens (you gained’t consider what number of sorts of bugs there are, and what number of of them will match right into a single cupboard) however the corridor was made extra immersive by massive, cool mannequin bugs and energetic dioramas filled with issues to find. None of this compromised the distinctive ambiance of being on this spectacular baroque constructing.

Bigger than life stag beetles.

The fish corridor was additionally nice, with this well-known coelacanth specimen its most placing object. One thing concerning the preservation course of has drained all the color from its scales. I’m not an enormous fan of the time period “residing fossil” – there actually isn’t any such factor – however the textual content on the signage makes use of it on a regular basis. The Vienna NHM isn’t right here to problem custom; it is custom. In some ways, that is the museum that different museums have moved on from. Nonetheless, I’m nonetheless joyful for it to exist in its personal conventional form, if solely to recollect simply what the traditions are that we have to transfer on from. In that approach, the Vienna NHM is itself a residing fossil. I hope I’m making sense.

Each corridor has its personal little flavour. Some halls are extra model-heavy, others are extra oriented in the direction of immersive dioramas, others focus extra on skeletons or taxidermy. The snake corridor was among the many extra conventional ones, with wood cupboards and specimens in formaldehyde. The halls themselves proceed to be gorgeous and even barely overwhelming of their excessive diploma of ornamentation. It’s straightforward to overlook the bushes for the forest on this place.

I’m not an enormous fan of pickled specimens in jars of poisonous liquid, nevertheless it works fairly nicely for snakes. Particularly once they have a gag the place it appears certainly one of them is crawling out. Nonetheless, I used to be mildly disturbed once I stumbled on a preparate of a useless hognose snake, an animal I maintain for a pet! The sight of the very picture of our beloved Sliertje all flattened and behind the warping bowed glass of a pickle jar is not going to depart me in a rush.

I don’t ascribe to the March of Progress. If any animal is actually the crown upon all creation, why would it not not be the mighty Abu Markub? I’ve but to see certainly one of these for actual. Does Pari Daiza have them?

Hey look, I discovered some palaeoart!

Can’t make out the identify of the painter. The illustration is very indebted to Charles Knight, who depicted moas quite a few occasions.

Extremely dimporphic eclectus parrots.

By the point we reached the mammals, we have been already feeling our legs. Here’s a desman, a splendidly weird form of aquatic mole. This can be a extremely obscure animal that I’d wish to know extra about, however you’ll battle to search out good photos of those on the web. This outdated piece of taxidermy should do.

There may be this to say for organizing your museum as a March of Progress: you save the most important animals for final.

In fact, no pure historical past museum is full with out a good outdated whale skeleton. This fin whale has its baleens intact, which is a pleasant element that’s usually lacking. A fin whale is large enough, however behind it’s a trendy mural of a blue whale, which appears to be rattling practically twice the scale.

5 species of extant and nearly-extinct rhinoceros. The javan rhino within the foreground is likely one of the oldest specimens within the assortment, therefore the glass. This species appears, sadly, to be on its final legs.

An elephant seal bull isn’t a lot smaller than an elephant.

One huge difficulty we have been working into at this level, and one thing that we stored coping with all through our week in Vienna in August, was that it will get sizzling in there. No air flow, no approach for the warmth to depart. There’s one thing to grouse right here about local weather change, the consequences of that are so keenly seen at pure historical past museums anyway, however I don’t have a lot of substance so as to add to that topic.

This concludes our tour via the higher degree of the fantastic and massive museum. It’s among the finest locations to go if you wish to see principally your complete animal kingdom, organized in a approach that could be antiquated however nonetheless is smart. The gathering of taxidermy is second to none and it’s onerous to argue that it’s housed in one of the vital spectacular buildings you may think about.

“However Niels” I hear you assume, “I believed this was a dinosaur weblog?”

Sure. I’m afraid I’m going to maintain you ready a bit longer. Vienna is the form of place price taking your time for. Subsequent time, we’ll discover the decrease ground of the museum and discover, lastly, some dinosaurs for them to sink their enamel into us, in addition to many different expressions of prehistoric life. So make like a guitar and keep tuned!

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