Collections

In addition to the Academy's own paintings and busts, the collections contain maps, views, geographical literature and old legal texts from the Viennese private collector Erich Woldan as well as the library of the Austrian Geographical Society (ÖGG).

Library catalogue (A-CATPlus)

The majority of the Woldan collection is retrievable in A-CATPlus and can be ordered online for consultation in our reading hall. The book holdings of the Austrian Geographical Society are also being successively catalogued and made searchable.    

Library catalogue (A-CATPlus)

Woldan Collection

The estate of the Viennese lawyer and private scholar Erich Woldan, which was bequested to the OeAW in 1989, comprises approximately 11,000 titles in around 20,000 volumes or individual sheets from the late 15th to the early 20th century. In addition to maps, atlases, globes and views, this collection, which is exceptional in terms of the history of science, also contains specialist geographical literature and old legal writings and documents. The holdings are currently being digitized as part of a project and will gradually be made accessible to the public, and will be openly accessible under open-access conditions.

Holdings from the Woldan Collection can only be used in the reading hall, so please register in advance at sammlungwoldan(at)oeaw.ac.at

The inventory that has already been digitized can be viewed open access at the following address:

Digital collections

Edition Woldan

The Viennese Woldan Collection offers an almost complete documentation of Western travel and discovery literature from the beginning of book printing to the 20th century. In the ongoing series "Edition Woldan", texts from European travel literature that are particularly relevant to cultural history are compiled into subject groups and presented in editions with academic commentaries.

Edition Woldan

Austrian Geographical Society

The Imperial Geographical Society in Vienna was founded in 1856. The beginnings of its library go back to 1855, when, in the course of the founding process, the first maps and books were received as gifts from various foreign institutions (including the Berlin Geographical Society, Justus Perthes' geographischer Anstalt). After being housed in the Austrian State Archives since 1997, its holdings were donated to the OeAW in autumn 2021. Since then, they have been continuously integrated into the library holdings and catalogue, so that they will also be freely accessible to the general public in the future. The library includes maps and specialist geographic literature from the 16th to the 20th century. Erich Woldan oversaw the library on a voluntary basis from 1949 to the 1980s.

Portraits and busts

Works of art can be borrowed by employees to decorate their office space. For more information please call 01/51581-1629 or email adele.kuenrath(at)oeaw.ac.at.