[Translated by eTranslation]

Since 2020, the museum has had a woman at the top with Katrin Vohland for the first time in its history. Together with her, a total of 209 employees and 174 employees are employed in the Research Museum (a total of 383 employees as of 31 January 2026). The representation of the economic management is also in the hands of women: Mag. Elke Lhotak, MA LL.M. Of the 26 executives in the museum, 12 are women and 14 are men. Of the total of 174 employees in the scientific departments, 100 are female and 74 are male.
 
"I would like to see no more need for International Women's Day, but for equality to be a matter of course – without gender discrimination, which is sometimes more or less subtle. With our different communication formats, we want to take the opportunity at the beginning of March to celebrate progress and to focus on historical and recent women's personalities of the NHM Vienna", affirms Director General and Scientific Director Dr. Katrin Vohland the intention of the museum to be involved in International Women's Day.
 
Since the foundation of the natural history collection in 1750 by Kaiser Franz I. Stephan von Lothringen, the husband of Maria Theresia, female researchers have had a decisive influence on the history of the house. For a long time, their achievements remained invisible.
 

The image of the Empress
 
From 3 to 17 March 2026, the museum changes again in a prominent place: The male-dominated imperial image on the grand staircase, which shows the emperor in the circle of his scholars, is concealed and we give the "founding mother" of the NHM Vienna, Maria Theresia, the presence due to her. She commissioned this painting to set a monument to her husband. It is thanks to her that Franz Stephan's natural history collection was made available to the public after his death. The collection, as shown in the picture, also goes back to the monarch: She made sure that it was scientifically inventoried and ordered. The noble ladies gathered around Maria Theresia represent the countless women who shaped the history of the collections and the museum over the centuries.
 

Events

Thematic guidance
The man as a hunter, the woman as a collector?
Caroline Posch (Prehistoric Department, NHM Vienna)
Wed, March 4, 2026, 5:00 p.m.

Lecture
Women in the Library - Women's Library?
Sarah Fiedler & Leah Karas (NHM Vienna)
Wed, 4 March 2026, 6:30 pm
 
Poetic breakfast
On their tracks
Brigitta Schmid (NHM Vienna)
Sun, 8 March 2026, 09:00
 
Thematic guidance
13 women. Almost invisible, but not completely gone. Search for traces in the NHM
Brigitta Schmid & Stefanie Jovanovic-Kruspel (NHM Vienna)
Wed, March 11, 2026, 5:00 p.m.
 
Overview of NHM Vienna events with a focus on women
 

Social media puts women in the spotlight: #Perspective change
 
In a social media series on Facebook and Instagram, we portray women who, in different roles, make the house what it is today and who continue to shape it for the future. With the female gaze it is discussed why in zoology mainly male animals are exhibited and the females are missing. Also in the description of a species (type) the male is considered the measure of all things.
 

Women's book
 
In the publication 13 Women from the History of NHM Vienna, published in 2025, 13 protagonists – twelve historical and one fictional future – come to the fore as representatives of the many barely documented women of NHM Vienna. 
 

Save the date: Interdisciplinary conference on women's networks from 19 to 20 November 2026
 
In the autumn of 2026, an international and transdisciplinary conference will take place at the NHM Vienna with the following title:
"Female Networks of Knowledge, Natural History between Private and Public Spaces
An international and transdisciplinary conference on women, science, and museums"
 
 
Today, all its women contribute to the success of the Natural History Museum. In addition to the Director General, not only mineralogists, geologists, paleontologists, prehistorians, anthropologists, zoologists, botanists, but also science historians, provenance researchers, preparators, communicators, ecologists, librarians, event managers, tourists, digitization experts, photographers, PR women, social media managers, carpenters, supervisors, controllers and other professionals shape the daily work of the modern research museum.
  
Natural History Museum Vienna – Women in focus
  
Inquiry note:
Mag. Irina Kubadinov
Head of Press & Public Relations, Press Spokesperson
Tel.: +43 (1) 521 77-410                                                          
irina.kubadinow@nhm.at                                                         
 
Mag. Klara Vakaj
Press officer
Tel.: +43 (1) 521 77-626
klara.vakaj@nhm.at