JAHRESBERICHT NHM / KAPITEL 08 english summary <strong>jahresbericht</strong> <strong>2012</strong> | naturhistorisches museum wien 188 189
english summary 8.1. natural history museum vienna annual report <strong>2012</strong>: english summary 08 The Natural History <strong>Museum</strong> in Vienna (NHM) is one of the largest and most significant natural science museums in the world. Today it houses a collection of about 30 million specimens and artifacts. The collections of the NHM were founded in 1750 by Emperor Franz I. Stephan of Lorraine, the husband of Maria Theresa. The current building was completed in 1889. The museum has a total staff of around 300, including about 60 scientists. Research departments and collections include anthropology, botany, geology, meteorites, mineralogy, petrology, paleontology, prehistory, and zoology, as well as an archive and extensive libraries. Several technical departments, scientific laboratories, and taxidermy facilities complete the portfolio of the museum. The NHM Vienna is one of the largest and most important research institutions in the geological and biological sciences in Austria. Since 2010, the museum has been led by Prof. Dr. Christian Köberl as director general and CEO and Dr. Herbert Kritscher as vice director and CFO. Since that time, many changes and new features were put in place at the museum. In <strong>2012</strong>, the museum had 564,512 visitors; of those, 24,263 visited the pathological-anatomical collection in the so-called “Narrenturm”-building in the 9 th district, a new branch of the museum. This collection used to be a very small federal museum until the end of 2011; then it was integrated into the anthropological department of the Natural History <strong>Museum</strong>. Because of long neglect and lack of funds, the building is in bad shape; however, the NHM succeeded, with the dedicated help of the Ministry of Education and Culture, to raise the necessary funds for renovation of the building; after an intensive phase of planning in <strong>2012</strong>, the actual work will start in 2013. Several other changes concerning the internal structure of the NHM were implemented in <strong>2012</strong>. New departments of “communications and media” and “event management and tourism”, partly replacing the earlier department of PR & marketing, were founded. The taxidermy facility was placed under the administration of the department of vertebrate zoology. As a result of the scientific evaluation that took place in late 2010, the former, rather small department of karst and cave research was merged with the department of geology and paleontology, and the former scientific department of ecology was restructured and converted into an outreach department. Finally, the most important scientific laboratories of the museum – electron microscopy and electron microanalysis, and the DNA lab – were merged into a facility called the “central research laboratories”, to emphasize that these laboratories are central to the whole museum, and can provide services even to outside institutions. The most important event for the museum in <strong>2012</strong> was the re-opening of its famous meteorite hall, which contains the world‘s largest meteorite display, on November 13, <strong>2012</strong>. Currently, after a thorough renovation and modernization in <strong>2012</strong>, there are about 1,100 meteorites on display. The Natural History <strong>Museum</strong> of Vienna owns one of the largest meteorite collections in the world. With over 7,000 catalogued objects (which represent about 2,400 different meteorites), the Viennese collection is not only large; it also has the longest history of all meteorite collections and it remains an important research center for meteorites and associated impact rocks. The earlier display in hall 5 contained a systematic meteorite display but hardly any information; consequently, it was certainly of interest for experts, but held little attraction for the general public. Thus alrea- 190 <strong>jahresbericht</strong> <strong>2012</strong> | naturhistorisches museum wien 191