Vienna’s Museum für Völkerkunde (now called the Weltmuseum Wien) was opened on May 25, 1928. Its debut was preceded by decades of debates about the presentation of the ethnographic collections in Austria’s possession, as well as the purpose and orientation of ethnological museums as such. Centering on the status of East Asian art, the disharmony intensified in the 1920s. In addition to academic disputes, political-ideological groups and rising antisemitism had an impact on these conflicts.

The PhD project The Founding History of the Weltmuseum Wien examines these debates for the first time and identifies the scientific, political, and personal networks involved. The work thus contributes to the early history of cultural anthropology in Austria and the establishmentf ethnological museums.

Associate Researcher at ifk

Veronika Stachel is a PhD Candidate in Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Vienna. Her master’s thesis examined the history of anthropology during the Nazi era, with a biography of the Austrian professor Josef Haekel. Her research interests revolve around the history of science, particularly the early history of ethnography and anthropology.