Naturhistorisches Museum (Natural History Museum)

Naturhistorisches Museum (Natural History Museum) Review

The palatial, archetypally "Ringstrasse" 19th-century museum complex just outside the Ring has two elements—to the east is the celebrated Kunsthistorisches Museum, to the west is the Naturhistorisches Museum, or Natural History Museum. This is the home of, among other artifacts, the Venus of Willendorf, a tiny statuette (actually, a replica—the original is in a vault) thought to be some 20,000 years old; this symbol of the Stone Age was originally unearthed in the Wachau Valley, not far from Melk. The reconstructed dinosaur skeletons draw the most attention.