{"id":52998,"date":"2022-11-05T06:09:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-05T05:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=52998"},"modified":"2023-11-05T15:49:13","modified_gmt":"2023-11-05T14:49:13","slug":"nhm-behind-the-scenes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/nhm-behind-the-scenes\/","title":{"rendered":"Naturhistorisches Museum: behind the scenes"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/birdcollectionsmall.jpg\" alt=\"Books and filing\" class=\"wp-image-52997\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/birdcollectionsmall.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/birdcollectionsmall-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Ever wonder what you&#8217;d find behind the closed doors of a natural history museum? I popped into the Bird Collection of the Naturhistorisches Museum to explore life away from the public displays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Visit prompted by an important scientific donation by the Harrison Institute<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Modern science in historical rooms creates a unique ambience<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Museum collections prove a critical resource for today&#8217;s environmental challenges<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ah, the leather-bound books!<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/natural-history-museum\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"252\">Naturhistorisches Museum visitor tips<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/events\/exhibitions\/#science\">Science exhibitions in Vienna<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Birds, bones, eggs &amp; more<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"314\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/birdcollectionnhm1.jpeg\" alt=\"Bird skins prepared for science\" class=\"wp-image-53017\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/birdcollectionnhm1.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/birdcollectionnhm1-300x188.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Birds from the Harrison Collection; press photo \u00a9 NHM Wien, Alice Schumacher)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most people know the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna as a public museum full of minerals, dinosaur skeletons, and more. A home to such items as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/venus-von-willendorf\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"955\">Venus of Willendorf<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/gemstone-bouquet\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"18679\">bouquet of gems<\/a>, and numerous creatures who ended their days beneath the delicate hands of the taxidermist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, around 60 scientists also work behind-the-scenes on projects in fields ranging from biodiversity and taxonomy to paleontology and impact craters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This research sits at the forefront of science. As such, the future meets the past given the museum building itself dates back to the late 19th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That theme has even more resonance when you consider that much of today&#8217;s science draws on yesterday&#8217;s archive material&#8230;with many historical items acquired by curious emperors or collected by naturalists bearing maps labelled &#8220;here be dragons&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The juxtaposition of modern research and historical surrounds within a centuries-long chronology of scientific endeavour holds a certain fascination. But what is the museum really like away from crowds of eager visitors?<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"297\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/birdskullsnhm.jpg\" alt=\"Lithograph of bird skull bones\" class=\"wp-image-53001\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/birdskullsnhm.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/birdskullsnhm-300x178.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Skull bones of birds: ten figures. Lithograph by J. Erxleben, after C.W. Parker, 1840\/1860? Credit: Wellcome Collection; Public Domain Mark)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had the opportunity to find out thanks to a donation\u2026not one of money, but of birds; in 2022, the UK&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harrison-institute.org\/\">Harrison Institute<\/a> donated its extensive collection of some 19,000 bird skins across almost 900 species to the Naturhistorisches Museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The accompanying press conference offered an insight into scientific research and collaboration at the museum, but also the work environment for the scientists. Let us begin with the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The special nature of the institution becomes clear even before you enter the building from the side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You pass a great stone statue where other museums might have a paper bin. And huge wrought iron lanterns hang down above the entranceway, only sliding glass doors hinting at the 21st century facilities within.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The familiar scent of science and natural history in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhm-wien.ac.at\/en\/research\/1_zoology_vertebrates\/bird_collection\">Bird Collection<\/a> (part of the First Zoological Department) took me back to my days as a young biology student at Oxford. Not so much &#8220;here be dragons,&#8221; as &#8220;here be science&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"377\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/birdcollectionnhm.jpg\" alt=\"Inside the bird collection rooms of the Naturhistorisches Museum\" class=\"wp-image-53016\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/birdcollectionnhm.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/birdcollectionnhm-300x226.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Rooms of the bird collection at the NHM Vienna; photo \u00a9 NHM Wien, Alice Schumacher)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But what does this all look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do we have vaulted chambers with ancient cabinets of oak and glass? Polished brass instruments scattered across dark wooden tables? Some other clich\u00e9 mirrored in a Victorian TV detective series?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or is it all stainless steel and innovative instrumentation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The answer is a little of both, just as you might imagine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tall arched ceilings and giant wooden doors topped by golden Roman numerals. Roof niches bearing 19th-century frescoes. Wood and glass cabinets. Books bound in ancient leather with such titles as <em>Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux<\/em> or <em>Voyage of the Beagle<\/em>: a bibliophilic paradise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ah, but also rows of metal storage facilities and walkways, fridges and photocopiers, multiple screens and hi-tech microscopes.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"323\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/birdcollectionnhm3.jpg\" alt=\"Inside the Naturhistorisches Museum's Bird Collection rooms\" class=\"wp-image-53019\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/birdcollectionnhm3.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/birdcollectionnhm3-300x194.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Rooms of the bird collection at the NHM Vienna; photo \u00a9 NHM Wien, Alice Schumacher)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not to mention all the accoutrements that spell out avian science. A faded flyer from a scientific conference, posters from research presentations, mounted birds, and cabinet labels that whisper promises of feathered jewels within.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Labels like <em>Psittacidae 2<\/em> followed by a flurry of species names. Or <em>Franz Ferdinand &#8211; archival materials<\/em>: presumably from that Habsburg archduke&#8217;s 1893 trip around the world that doubled as a scientific expedition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What an extraordinary place to work, ever conscious of your role in a scientific lineage that dates back to before the time of Darwin and Newton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But what of today&#8217;s science, as practiced by Dr. Swen Renner (Head of the Bird Collection) and his expert team?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The extensive and prestigious Harrison Institute collection, mostly built through the efforts of father and son James and Jeffrey Harrison, includes twelve so-called holotypes: physical specimens used as the representative associated with a particular description and species.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/birdcollectionnhm2.jpg\" alt=\"Scientist and stuffed birds\" class=\"wp-image-53018\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/birdcollectionnhm2.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/birdcollectionnhm2-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(James Harrison; photo \u00a9 Harrison Institute)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These valuable holotypes now join around 1,000 others in the Naturhistorisches Museum&#8217;s bird collection, while the 19,000 skins provide a further critical resource to go with the existing 95,000 skins, 10,000 mounted specimens, 10,000 clutches of eggs, 1,000 nests, and thousands of other items such as feathers and skeletons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s hard to fully comprehend the importance (historical and scientific), scope and physical presence of just this one collection among many held at the museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consider, for example, that research into changes through time underpins our understanding of such issues as biodiversity, climate change, conservation, and population ecology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As such, specimen collections play a crucial role in that context: the museum&#8217;s taxonomic studies and similar are the foundations on which much applied science then builds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The donation came about thanks to the Harrison Institute&#8217;s changing focus toward, for example, education and training of young researchers across the world; sending the collection to the museum allows the resource to continue to play an active role in science rather than serve as a dormant archive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The choice of the Naturhistorisches Museum as recipient reflects both the ongoing research commitment at the museum, but also a long collaboration between the two institutes. This cooperation continues in the training of foreign scientists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So while we might admire the infotainment and displays in the public galleries, we should offer a nod of appreciation to those behind the scenes: those using the collections to help understand and meet some of the great challenges of our modern times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those bewhiskered naturalists of the past would no doubt approve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ever wonder what you&#8217;d find behind the closed doors of a natural history museum? I popped into the Bird Collection of the Naturhistorisches Museum to explore life away from the public displays. Birds, bones, eggs &amp; more (Birds from the Harrison Collection; press photo \u00a9 NHM Wien, Alice Schumacher) Most people know the Naturhistorisches Museum [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52997,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-52998","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-museums","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52998"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65302,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52998\/revisions\/65302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}