The papyrus collection of the Austrian National Library, also known as the Rainer Collection (Papyrus Collection Archduke Rainer) and Vienna Papyrus Collection (Papyrus Collection Vienna), is a papyrus collection of the Austrian National Library located in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. In total, it comprises around 180,000 objects. It is one of the most significant collections of papyrology, containing writings that document three millennia of Egypt's history from 1500 BC to 1500 AD: ancient Egypt, Hellenistic Egypt, Roman Egypt, and Egypt during Muslim rule. This includes a specialized library with around 19,500 books and journals. The Austrian National Library preserves and restores the stored papyri, enabling scientific research and publication based on these ancient documents. The core of the collection comes from the private collection of Archduke Rainer, who gifted the collection to Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria in 1899. In addition to papyri, the collection includes papers, records on clay tablets, stone tablets, inscribed wooden and wax tablets, leather, sheepskins, textiles, bones, as well as objects made of gold, silver, and bronze with inscriptions. In 1999, a Papyrus Museum was opened, making a part of the collection accessible to the public. The Rainer Collection was inscribed in UNESCO's Memory of the World register in 2001.
