The department of Mineralogy and Petrography and its Collections Today
In April 2025, the Department had a total staff complement of nine employees, among which five professionals. The current staff can be found here.
The total number of items in the inventory currently (April 2023) amounts to about 168,000 (the number of items is actually much higher). About 15% of the items carried is exhibited and accessible to the public (about one-fifth of the items in the Mineral Collection are displayed, in the Meteorite Collection approximately 8% can be seen). There are five exhibition halls, in which the available items can be seen by the visitor.
The significance of the Mineral Collection is the multiplicity of items coming from occurrences on the territory of the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and its alpine regions. Specimens from many of the "classical" deposits in Germany, Russia, England, Italy and other countries are also represented. Selectivity must be practised in the acquisitions, in view of the rather modest financial means available, emphasis being on minerals from Austria, world-wide "alpine paragenesis", selected pegmatite paragenesis (e. g., Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal), new gems and ornamental and synthesised material, new meteorite finds and meteorite falls and the application of the mineral classification system for the new additions.
