Photography collection

In the photographic collection are glass plate negatives and positives, which are kept at a cool temperature in order to preserve them. Prints varying greatly in size and in photographic technique are also in the climate controlled storerooms.  The collection's main focus is on photography of the 19th to early 20th century.

The oldest photographs date from the middle of the 19th century. Many of the photographs were taken in the course of scientific expeditions throughout the world, e.g. by Franz Antoine (1815 – 1886 Vienna), Ludwig Grillich (?1856 – 1926 Vienna), Wilhelm J. Burger (1844 – 1920 Vienna), Ferdinand Pfeiffer von Wellheim (1859 – 1935 Vienna), Friedrich Simony (1813 Hrochow Teinitz/Bohemia – 1896 Sankt Gallen), Oskar Simony (1854 – 1915 Vienna), Raimund Stillfried von Rathenitz (1839 Komotau/Bohemia – 1911 Wien), Graf Hans Wilczek (1837 – 1922 Vienna), Samuel Bourne (1834 – 1912), etc.

The largest individual collection within the photo collection is made up of more than 5,600 glass plate negatives belonging to the ichthyologist Viktor Pietschmann.