Dataset to: Harzhauser et al. (2023): "'aus einem Trümmerhaufen des ausgebombten Hauses Wien III' – one century provenance context of the geological-paleontological collections in the Natural History Museum Vienna (1919 to 2019)"

We present an exhaustive survey of the geological-paleontological collection of the Natural History Museum Vienna (Austria) based on 353,704 objects acquired from 1919 to 2019. The data encompass information on geographic origin, provenance, stakeholders and mode of acquisition. Special focus is laid on the interwar period from 1919 to 1938, the Nazi regime and World War II until 1945, and on the recovery during the postwar phase until the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. The illegitimate acquisitions during the Nazi regime are documented, referring to the published documents of the Art Restitution Advisory Board. For the first time, all objects sent to the department by soldiers during World War II are reported. A strong increase in acquisitions from Austria took place during the 20^th century, whilst international relations appear curbed. A boom phase during the 21^st century is related to changing science policy and integration of citizen scientists.