In 1919 Rudolf PÖCH founded the Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography.

PÖCH's famous expeditions to Australia, New Guinea and South Africa enriched both scientific disciplines enormously and in 1927 two new institutes followed: The Anthropological Institute and the Institute for Ethnology. The Anthropological Institute was renamed in 1972 by Emil BREITINGER, the former director, to the Institute for Human Biology. Util the year 2005 the institute's name was Institute for Anthropology and belonged to the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Vienna. Since 2005 the Universtity of Vienna changed its internal structures, and the institute was renamed to Department of Anthropology, which name is still valid.

The department is the only one in Austria, but nevertheless traditionally there are narrow and intensive cooperations in education and research with institutes all over Austria. Physical anthropology has always been an interdisciplinary science, including first of all medical sciences. In the late 20's and early 30's the Viennese school of morphology was developed by Josef and Margarete WENINGER. Unfortunately, this was simultaneously the beginning of the involvement of physical anthropology in the ideology and practice of National Socialism (SEIDLER & RETT, 1988). After 1945, the first director was Josef WENINGER, who continued with his wife Margarete WENINGER the classical tradition of morphology. After WENINGER's retirement in 1955 the chair of the Viennese institute was offered to Emil BREITINGER. He accomplished two important innovations: On one hand he started the methodological biostatistic orientation, on the other hand, he gave the impulse for the other focal point of research: Questions concerning evolution of hominids (BREITINGER, 1955).

The development of physical anthropology in Austria was continued by three of BREITINGER's students: Gertrud HAUSER (Institute of Histology, Faculty of Medical Sciences), Johann SZILVASSY (who has been head of the Anthropological Department, Museum of Natural History, Vienna) and Horst SEIDLER (Head of the Department of Anthropology since 1980).

A very close scientific research cooperation started in the early 70's with Andreas RETT, concerning mental handicapped children and questions of social-anthropology (RETT & SEIDLER, 1980).The work of the Viennese school of morphology and historical anthropology has been continued by Maria TESCHLER-NICOLA, Herbert KRITSCHER and Johann SZILVASSY (all belonging to the Antrhopological Department at the Museum of Natural History, Vienna) in education and research. Further developments in the tradition of biostatistics and biomathematics are beeing carried out by Horst SEIDLER and Werner TIMISCHL. Just now new lectures and seminars on biomathematics in cooperation with the Faculty of Mathematics have enriched the curricula. Physical anthropology is also pushed ahead in a traditional way at the Institute of Human Anatomy, University of Innsbruck (director: Werner PLATZER) In tradition of Gustav SAUSER (1938) there is a department at this institute that deals with skeletal and historical anthropology (Othmar GABER and Karl-Heinz KÜNZEL).

Since the institute is too small to be established in divisions, working groups have been arranged, of course with overlapping competences.

The education of anthropologists has two main aspects:

• Joint lectures in common with students of other biological disciplines to enable a general biological and methodological education: zoology, genetics, botany, chemistry, physics, biostatistics and mathematics.
• Special lectures at the medical school/University of Vienna, including human anatomy, dissection and brain section, histology and physiology.

Later in the course of study special lectures and trainings are offered which correspond to the particular specialized and interdisciplinary branches of physical anthropology, as e.g.: trainings in osteology, palaeopathology, morphology and physiology, human and molecular genetics, human ecology, human evolution, population genetics, biostatistics and biomathematics.

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