Vienna: Natural History Museum

Last week I visited Vienna as part of my annual Christmas markets pilgrimage. I made time to check out the Natural History Museum or the Naturhistorisches, one of the must-visits for nature and science lovers. The museum is renowned for its vast collection housed in the most stunning historical building. Opened in 1889, the museum bears a historicism style and this was a total visual feast for me who's also a big history lover. The museum actually started in 1750 as a personal collection owned by Austrian rulers at the time, but after the Emperor's death, the museum was opened to the public.

The museum is remarkable for its vast collection and has been the driving force for various scientific expeditions. It has 39 exhibition rooms and countless specimens on display, and I must admit I had to choose which bit to focus on. I chose to spend most of my time on the first floor where all the biological specimens were, admiring the many different species. I oohh-ed and ahh-ed for hours! While a lot of the information was only in German, it was still enjoyable. I took a lot of pictures (slideshow below) for future references but thought I'd share some of my best here and convince you that you need to visit one day.

I hope you enjoy this short post - next one will be from the Schönbrunn Palace Palm House!