The museum was founded in the East India House in 1861. Modelled on the
Victoria and Albert Museum in London, it initially comprised natural history, art and books and covered art, science and industry. Its founders were Sven Adolf Hedlund, AF Ericsson, August Malm and Victor von Gegerfelt. The merchant
John West Wilson paid for a fourth wing which opened in May 1891 shortly after his death. At the time of the
Gothenburg Exhibition in 1923 the city's collections were split in two, with the art housed in the
Gothenburg Museum of Art and the rest in the Gothenburg Natural History Museum. Between 1993 and 1996, several of the city's museums on archaeology, general history and the history of industry, education and theatre merged to form the Gothenburg City Museum. == References ==