Forty years after St. Pölten was chosen as the state capital, Haus der Geschichte at Museum Niederösterreich and the Stadtmuseum St. Pölten jointly explore how the city and state have changed since then. The exhibition leads to ten key locations across the city, with the two museums as starting and end points. 

Each stop focuses on an important aspect of life in the region. Contemporary images highlight developments in city and state.

Until 1918, Vienna was the capital of the Crown Land of Lower Austria. This status ended in 1922, when Vienna and Lower Austria were separated. For financial reasons, the state did not establish its own capital at first, and the state government remained in the Landhaus on Herrengasse in Vienna. Although politicians launched repeated initiatives after 1955, they failed to reach agreement. Spatial planners recommended a state capital, favouring St. Pölten – to strengthen the centre of the state and to concentrate the state administration, then spread across 14 sites in Vienna, in a single government district.

In the early 1980s, Governor Siegfried Ludwig revived the debate. The Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) reached an agreement, followed by a public vote on 1 and 2 March 1986: “State capital – yes or no?” 56 per cent voted in favour. 45 per cent chose St. Pölten, 29 per cent Krems an der Donau. On 10 July 1986, the State Parliament of Lower Austria (Landtag) formally designated St. Pölten as the state capital.

The new political centre was to rise on the left bank of the Traisen river, where allotments, businesses and a stadium occupied the site of a former trotting track. Ernst Hoffmann won an international architectural competition to design a modern government district comprising the state parliament, administrative offices and public spaces. 1992 saw the ground-breaking ceremony, and in 1997 the state government and state parliament of Lower Austria moved to St. Pölten.

HERE you will find a list of the individual stations.

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