← Back to Articles | Original (German)
Probably the most impressive object in the Natural History Museum in Vienna (NHMW), the 26 meter long Diplodocus carnegii, was a "gift from Mr. A. Carnegie to His Imperial and Royal Majesty, the Emperor of Austria." Although it was "just" a cast, that does not diminish its value or the effort involved in bringing the fossil from the United States. With combined efforts, the cast of "Dippy", its American nickname, was completed on time thanks to well-planned preparatory work in the spring and summer of 1909.
On September 24, 1909, Emperor Franz Joseph made a 15-minute stopover at the museum on his way from Schönbrunn to the Vienna Hofburg. Here, Professor William J. Holland (1848–1932), director of the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania, USA), who came especially to the museum, explained his gift to the monarch in the presence of Intendant Franz Steindachner (1834–1919). His Majesty "showed the most lively interest in the cast." (Neues Wiener Tagblatt, September 24, 1909). Holland and his accompanying assistant, Arthur Sterry Coggeshall (1873–1958), were promptly honored with imperial medals. A real dinosaur hype followed, on Sundays in October 1909 more than 8,000 visitors came to see Dippy - but more on that later.
The noble donor, the American Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919), was a steel magnate and one of the richest of his time. Among other things, as a generous benefactor, he honored numerous museums with casts of Diplodocus. The background: At the beginning of October 1902, King Edward VII visited Carnegie at his castle in Scotland. When the king saw a picture of the reconstructed Diplodocus there, he was thrilled and wanted a copy too. Of course, an original was out of the question. True to the motto, “think big,” Carnegie had several casts made in 1903 for “all the crowned heads” of the Old World. Given the associated publicity and headlines that Carnegie received with the Diplodocus carnegii named after him, this was perfect marketing to make the Carnegie name known in Europe.
King Edward VII received the first cast on May 12, 1905 for the Natural History Museum in London. The next copy went to Berlin for Kaiser Wilhelm II, where it was unveiled on May 13, 1908. The Paris copy followed on June 15, 1908. In 1909, Emperor Franz Joseph and King Viktor Emanuel III were born in Vienna. in Bologna (October 27th). In 1910, Tsar Nicholas II was delighted with his Diplodocus in St. Petersburg. In 1912 a cast went to La Plata in Argentina. The last copy given away during Carnegie's lifetime was given to King Alfonso XIII. on December 2, 1913 in Madrid. After his death, three more casts followed, the last of which went to Munich in 1934, but was never installed there. Gottlieb August Crüwell, librarian and expert on the Anglo-American world, wrote a pointed obituary for Carnegie - "He saw life as a beggar, which he left as Croesus" - in the Neue Freie Presse (August 13, 1919).
It is not uncommon for fossil and extant species to be named after people as a sign of appreciation. It was similar with Diplodocus carnegii. In 1901, the then 40-year-old paleontologist John Bell Hatcher named the Diplodocus carnegii in honor of "Mr. Carnegie, the founder of this institution." This refers to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, founded in Pittsburg in 1895. Hatcher chose skeleton number 84 as the basis for this. You have to know that dinosaur finds were numbered consecutively in the USA at that time. Number 84 was found in 1899 as an incomplete skeleton, but was enough to define a new species. In 1900, another incomplete skeleton was found, number 94. Hatcher scientifically processed both in 1901 and assembled them together with additions to form a complete, 26 meter long Diplodocus carnegii. This resulted in a pieced together original Dippy, the casts of which were then sent worldwide. A quick look at the genus Diplodocus. Othniel Charles Marsh (1831–1999), one of the most important dinosaur experts of his time, established it in 1877. Marsh did not have a complete skeleton available either, but it was clear to him that the genus Diplodocus would unite species of large, herbivorous dinosaurs (“very large size, and herbivorous in habit”). All of the specimens were found in the Morrison Formation, which are around 150 million year old deposits from the Jurassic (Mezoozoic Age) that are known for dinosaur finds.
The first news about the Diplodocus can be found on October 5, 1908 in the archives of the Natural History Museum. The State Department announced that Mr. Carnegie's museum would receive a Diplodocus skeleton. Like a countdown, Dippy's history can be traced in the archives ("Intendance files"). "Regarding the intended donation of a gypsum cast of the prehistoric Diplodocus skeleton in the possession of the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburg to His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty by Mr. Andrew Carnegie," it became concrete on January 28, 1909. Intendant Steindachner informed and dealt with the case to the responsible custodian, Ernst Kittl (1854–1913), head of the geological-paleontological department. This began the search for a location for the 26 meter long gift. Creativity was now required, especially since the imperial gift had to be put to good use. But in the well-planned building that opened in 1889, there was no space for such a large object.
Kittl took the task seriously and on March 5th, after measuring all the rooms in question, presented his ideas including a sketch plan - today we would call it a feasibility study. Logically, for him, the “most natural place for Diplodocus” was Hall VIII, where “rocks and fauna of the Mesozoic age” [in the plan: a] were placed. But at 17.2 meters he was too small. Room 10 [in the plan: b] was a perfect fit at 26.75 meters, but the radiators there reduced the length to 25 meters. He wasn't afraid to mention every possible possibility. This category includes “an installation in the courtyard of the museum building [on the plan: g]”. But the effort required for a separate pavilion “at least 26 m long and 4-5 m wide and of the same height” in one of the two inner courtyards was too great. The idea of presenting the dinosaur in the central entrance hall [in the plan: c] "floating at a height of a few meters" was similarly unreal, especially since it would be "in a completely unnatural position". The central staircase, where the large oil painting “Emperor Franz I with his collection directors” is located [on the plan: e], was also out of the question.
After there seemed to be no suitable space in the house, Kittl considered "creating an annex", i.e. an extension. The building [in the plan: i] should be 42 meters long (parallel to Bellariastrasse), twelve meters wide, two floors high and connected to Hall 8 in the main building by a 15 meter long connecting wing. "The roof would have to be flat or slightly sloped, but in any case it would have to be adorned with a ballustrade." For reasons of building symmetry, he also draws a second extension [in the plan: j] for the zoological department in the plan sketch.
As a paleontologist, he had concrete ideas and wanted "that the Diplodocus skeleton should be erected in such a way that the spine is straight and not bent out or bent to the side." He didn't make a particularly convincing statement about the later installation location: "In the vestibule on the 1st floor [in the plan: f], the loggia facing Maria-Theresien-Platz is long enough for the Diplodocus skeleton, but like the side corridor on the mezzanine floor, it is too narrow (only 3.10 meters wide). This room would allow the Diplodocus to be set up, but not for viewing by the audience."
In any case, the location in question, the vestibule, was communicated to the Supreme Chamber's Office and approved by them on March 23rd. On June 1st, William J. Holland in Pittsburgh received a letter informing him of the site including a sketch. On June 16, Kittl's answer came, which Kittl was probably not pleased with: "In order to fit the specimen comfortably in the place you have assigned it, it will be necessary to bend the end of the tail in a graceful curve, as was done in Paris." Holland knew what he was talking about, because after London, Berlin and Paris, the Viennese Dippy was the fourth example he had put up. The dinosaur was an all-inclusive gift, he assured. "[It will be] Mr. Carnegie's pleasure to bear the entire cost of transport and installation of the specimen, including the construction of the base...". What more could you want? Holland informed and instructed Steindachner in Vienna in several letters so that everything could be finalized on time. On June 21, he sent the plans for "the construction of the base for the skeleton of Diplodocus" to Vienna.
Three weeks later, on July 14, Holland wrote that his team "had made great efforts to complete the cast intended for your [=Steindachner] Museum in Vienna." The skeleton was first assembled in the USA, then disassembled and packed into 36 large boxes. That was no small feat with “a total weight of approximately 9,100 pounds, equal to 4,127.76 kilos.” The destination address was clear: “Hofrat Dr. Franz Steindachner, K. K. Hofmuseum, Vienna, Austria”. With that, Holland's part in the USA was over.
Now it was Vienna's turn, which Holland also made clear: "I hope that you have already given instructions or will give them as soon as possible that a skilled carpenter will build the base according to the plans I sent you, so that the base (excluding the deck pieces) will be ready when I arrive in Vienna." He had specifications when it came to materials, although there was a certain amount of leeway for the interior design on site. "The inner framework, however, should be mostly of oak; the outer framework can be of oak, mahogany, or another type of wood of your choice."
A week later, the boxes were shipped from Pittsburgh to New York. From here they went on July 28th with the "S.S. Laura", a steamer of the Austro-Americana line, across the Atlantic to Trieste, where they arrived on August 14th. Since it was an imperial gift, the transport costs were covered - a matter of honor for the operators of the Austro-Americana line. On August 17th the news came that the boxes had arrived in Trieste. We continued by train, which took care of the transport to Vienna “with the usual 50% reduction in fees”. On August 26th, the Schenker company delivered the boxes to the museum, which Steindachner dutifully reported to the Court Chamber Office.
Holland itself left at the end of August. Together with his assistant Arthur Sterry Coggeshall, he and his assistant Arthur Sterry Coggeshall had previously estimated "no more than 2 to 3 weeks" to assemble the skeleton.
To cut a long story short: everything went according to plan and was completed on time for the Kaiser's visit on Friday, September 24, 1909. On Monday the 27th, Holland spoke to the scientific club in the banquet hall of the Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects (Eschenbachgasse 9) "About the Carnegie Institute and the advances of paleontology in the United States, especially Diplodocus and other vertebrate finds." Not only Steindachner sat in the auditorium, but also Emil Tietze, the director of the k.k. Geological Reichsanstalt.
This meant that the Vienna mission was over for Holland and Coggeshall. They both went on to Bologna in Italy, where 36 boxes of the next Dippy had to be assembled.
Visitor admissions are an important key figure when evaluating museums. The figures are usually published in annual reports and occasionally in newspapers. The "frequency of the imperial collections in 1909" was the subject of an analysis in the Wiener Zeitung on January 30, 1910. The NHMW had "an exceptionally high number" with 349,624 entries. In October alone, 49,010 curious people came to see the Diplodocus. 85.5 percent or 40,941 people came on the five Sundays in October. That was more than 8,000 every Sunday – a real mass rush.
We owe Ernst Kittl in the January 1910 issue of the magazine Urania for a generally understandable presentation including pictures of the dinosaur skeleton in the museum. Othenio Abel, co-founder of paleobiology, who was "not only a great researcher, but one of the most important Nazis and anti-Semites at the University of Vienna before 1934," as Klaus Taschwer showed in the STANDARD (October 9, 2012), presented a scientifically sound reconstruction of the Diplodocus. At the same time in Berlin, the herpetologist Gustav Tornier was working on the Diploducus. A scholarly debate promptly followed about the position of the legs in the skeletons. Tornier thought the legs should be mounted sideways, like in crocodiles; Abel saw it differently.
Anyone who wants to see Dippy can find him in Room X of the museum, where he found a new home on November 28, 1984 after 75 years in the vestibule. In 2007, its tail was positioned horizontally so that Dippy "grew" to 27 meters. After a redesign, it was reopened as a dinosaur hall on October 5, 2011. As if on an island, the Diplodocus, a Belgian Iguanodon (Cretaceous) and a 150-million-year-old Allosaurus fragilis from Utah (USA) are now united in the middle of the room. In a word, Dippy is in good company among his peers and can finally be viewed from all sides - just as Kittl wanted in 1909. (Thomas Hofmann, June 5, 2026)