Weltmuseum Wien

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The Weltmuseum Wien, formerly the Museum of Ethnology, is a premier ethnographic museum housing extensive collections of ethnographic objects, historical photographs, and literature on non-European civilizations. Established in 1806 as the "Imperial and Royal Ethnographic Collection" within the Imperial Natural History Cabinet, its origins are linked to the acquisition of the Cook Collection. The collections expanded and were moved to the anthropological-ethnographic department of the Court Museum of Natural History in 1876, with the Museum of Ethnology officially opening in 1928. The museum's earliest ethnographic artifacts date back to the 16th century, featuring exotic objects from Renaissance chambers of art and curiosities. Notably, the collection of Archduke Ferdinand II at Ambras Castle included significant items such as pre-Columbian and colonial feather artifacts, treasures from Mexico, and African-Portuguese ivory carvings. During the Napoleonic Wars, these items were relocated to Vienna. The foundation of the Imperial and Royal Ethnographic Collection was further enriched by the nearly 250 objects collected by James Cook during his voyages, as well as items gathered during the Austrian Brazil Expedition (1817-1836), particularly those by naturalist Johann Natterer, and from the Austrian frigate Novara's global journey (1857-1859).