The Globe Museum (german: Globenmuseum) is a museum in the Palais Mollard,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria, part of the

Austrian National Library The Austrian National Library (german: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of V ...

. It was opened in 1956, and is the only public museum in the world devoted to

globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe ...

s, being three-

dimension In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a Space (mathematics), mathematical space (or object) is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any Point (geometry), point within it. Thus, a Line (geometry), lin ...

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the Plan_(drawing), plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a mea ...

s of

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

or other celestial bodies, or spherical representations of the

celestial sphere In astronomy and navigation, the celestial sphere is an abstract sphere that has an arbitrarily large radius and is concentric to Earth. All objects in the sky can be conceived as being projected upon the inner surface of the celestial sphere, ...

History

As early as the 19th century, there was a globe collection within the Vienna Imperial Library, the forerunner to the Austrian National Library. The globes in this collection were acquired either as purchases or as gifts (for example,

Vincenzo Coronelli Vincenzo Maria Coronelli (August 16, 1650 – December 9, 1718) was an Italian Franciscan friar, cosmographer, cartographer, publisher, and encyclopedist known in particular for his atlases and globes. He spent most of his life in Venice. Biogr ...

created two globes especially for

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; hu, I. Lipót; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria An ...

from 1658 to 1705, with each globe having an engraved portrait of the Emperor and an inscription). In 1921, the geographer,

Eugen Oberhummer Eugen is a masculine given name which may refer to: * Archduke Eugen of Austria (1863–1954), last Habsburg Grandmaster of the Teutonic Order from 1894 to 1923 * Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke (1865–1947), Swedish painter, art collector, and pat ...

, conducted an inventory of the collection and found eight globes of various sizes (both terrestrial and celestial), and two

armillary sphere An armillary sphere (variations are known as spherical astrolabe, armilla, or armil) is a model of objects in the sky (on the celestial sphere), consisting of a spherical framework of rings, centered on Earth or the Sun, that represent lines of ...

s. In 1922, these globes were transferred to the National Library's

map collection A map collection or map library is a storage facility for maps, usually in a library, archive, or museum, or at a map publisher or public-benefit corporation, and the maps and other cartographic items stored within that facility. Sometimes, ...

where, by 1948, there were already 28 globes. In the annual report of the director of the collection in 1948, it was noted that the globes were among the collection's most rarely used items. In 1956, the National Library opened the Globe Museum with a total of 63 exhibits. Its foundation collection was a combination of the imperial collection and the collections of The International Coronelli Society for the Study of Globes, and the cartographer Robert Haardt, who had been instrumental in the museum's establishment. The museum was originally housed in the Augustinian tract of the

Hofburg The Hofburg is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty. Located in the centre of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century and expanded several times afterwards. It also served as the imperial winter residence, as Schönbrunn ...

Josefsplatz Josefsplatz ( en, Joseph's Square) is a public square located at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. Named after Emperor Joseph II, Josefsplatz is considered one of the finest courtyards in Vienna.Schulte-Peevers 2007, p. 359. Description Josef ...

, Vienna, as part of the National Library's map collection. In 1970 and 1986, the museum was allocated new rooms within the same tract. During the museum's first 30 years, its collection grew to 145 items by purchase, gift and exchange with other museums. By 1996, the museum had 260 exhibits. Since the end of 2005 the museum has been accommodated at the Palais Mollard in the

Herrengasse The Herrengasse (meaning in German language: "Street of the Lords" or "Lords Lane") is a street in Vienna, located in the first district Innere Stadt. History The street existed during Roman times as part of the limes highway system. The first w ...

Collection

There are now approximately 600 terrestrial and celestial globes in the collection, and around 200 of them are constantly on display. The majority of them date from before 1850. The oldest item in the collection is the terrestrial globe of

Gemma Frisius Gemma Frisius (; born Jemme Reinerszoon; December 9, 1508 – May 25, 1555) was a Frisian physician, mathematician, cartographer, philosopher, and instrument maker. He created important globes, improved the mathematical instruments of his d ...

(circa 1536). Highlights are the globes of Vincenzo Coronelli ( diameter) and a pair of globes by

Gerard Mercator Gerardus Mercator (; 5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a 16th-century geographer, cosmographer and cartographer from the County of Flanders. He is most renowned for creating the 1569 world map based on a new projection which represented sa ...

from 1541 and 1551. Further objects in the collection include

s, planetary globes,

astronomical instruments Astronomical instruments include: *Alidade * Armillary sphere *Astrarium * Astrolabe *Astronomical clock *the Antikythera mechanism, an astronomical clock *Blink comparator *Bolometer *the Canterbury Astrolabe Quadrant *Celatone *Celestial sphere ...

, and instruments in which a globe represents a component, such as planet machines ( orreries),

tellurion A tellurion (also spelled ''tellurian'', ''tellurium'', and yet another name is ''loxocosm''), is a clock, typically of French or Swiss origin, surmounted by a mechanism that depicts how day, night, and the seasons are caused by the rotation and ...

s and

lunarium A lunary (from Latin ''lunarium''), also called a selenodromion or moonbook, is a book of prognostication based on the position of the moon at any given time. It is an astrological genre with parallels as far back as Akkadian literature. From th ...

References

Sources

External links

Globe Museum website

Globe catalogue of the Austrian National Library
*
Pictures of the museum on

Flickr Flickr ( ; ) is an American image hosting and video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was a popular way for amateur and professional ...

Michael Frank: ''Globenmuseum. Der Nabel der Welt.''
Article in the

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat. History ...

, 1 December 2005 . {{Coord, 48, 12, 33.5, N, 16, 21, 55, E, region:AT-9_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title Buildings and structures in Innere Stadt Museums in Vienna Technology museums 1956 establishments in Austria Museums established in 1956