The Josephinum Institute of Medicine History is a medical museum that houses the second largest collection of anatomical wax models in the world and the largest collection of obstetric wax models. The exhibits are stored in original rosewood and Venetian glass covers from the late 18th century. The collection consists of 1,192 wax anatomical models and a large collection of early medical instruments.
The most famous exhibit is the so-called "anatomical Venus". This is a wax model of a woman lying in a glass casket with an open chest. Long hair, eyelashes, pearls and a golden headband are a pictorial example of an 18th-century marriage of art and science.
Josephinum is the most famous example of neoclassical architecture in Vienna and an important legacy of the Age of Enlightenment in Austria. The Institute was founded in 1785 by Emperor Joseph II as a surgical-medical-military academy to train doctors and midwives for civil and military service according to new teaching methods.
Attractions inside
