Idea & Concept

Idea & Concept

The Haus der Geschichte in the Museum Niederösterreich is an open forum in which science and the public meet. A place where new discoveries and findings are showcased, where history is discussed and debated and historical myths are aired. As an innovative museum, The Haus der Geschichte is part of a network of Lower Austrian collections, archives and museums, local initiatives, university and non-university research institutions, researchers and regional organizations, as well as being a service center at the interface between research and education.

Lower Austria, Austria’s historical “heartland”, has played a special role over the centuries. While centered around the history of Lower Austria, Austria itself and Central Europe - from the first human settlements up to the present day – the exhibits mainly focus on the period from the mid-19th century onwards.

A long-pursued idea becomes an exciting new project: Lower Austria gets a Haus der Geschichte!  “The history of Lower Austria is inseparable from that of Austria and is linked to the chain of major events in the central European region. In the Haus der Geschichte, an entirely new space is created where history comes alive, not only in terms of presentation but in terms of the educational approach, too. Therefore we are fulfilling a cultural and democratic-political educational mandate,” says former Provincial Governor Dr. Erwin Pröll.

In 2014, an international scientific advisory committee consisting of 95 experts began conceptual work on the Haus der Geschichte. The guidelines they drew up became the foundation on which the project was executed: the wide areas exhibition, service and research. The expert committee is under the scientific direction of Univ.-Prof. Dr. Stefan Karner and his deputy Gen.-Dir. Univ.-Doz. Dr. Wolfgang Maderthaner.

In the autumn of 2015, following a bidding competition, the winning exhibition architects and the graphic design team took up their work. The Haus der Geschichte in Museum Niederösterreich will open its doors to visitors on 10 September 2017.

Concept download
Press information download

 

The Expert Committee

Since the autumn of 2014, an international scientific committee has been working on the foundations for the implementation of the Haus der Geschichte’s permanent exhibition. Ninety-five experts from a variety of institutions and specialized areas drew up the main guidelines and themes of the permanent exhibition. Since the autumn of 2015, these have become the basis for their implementation. Mag. Philipp Lesiak from the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for War Consequences Research Vienna-Raabs is in charge of coordinating the scientific work conducted by the expert committee.

The international expert committee is chaired by Univ.-Prof. Dr. Stefan Karner, Head of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for War Consequences Research and one of Austria’s most renowned historians. He is also the Head of the Institute of Economic, Social and Business History at Karl-Franzens University, Graz. Stefan Karner has directed several major exhibitions in Lower Austrai, such as “Postwar People” (1995), the Independence Treaty exhibition “Austria is Free” (2005) – both at the venue Schallaburg – as well as the first trans-national Lower Austrian Provincial Exhibition “Austria – Czech Republic” (2009) in Horn, Raabs and Telč.

The committee’s deputy chairman, Univ.-Doz. Dr. Wolfgang Maderthaner, is general manager of the Austrian National Archives. He is among the most distinguished researchers in the field of the history of the Austrian workers’ movement and contemporary history of the City of Vienna.  

Picture of Univ. Prof. Dr. Stefan Karner to download
Picture of Gen.-Dir. Univ.-Doz. Dr. Wolfgang Maderthaner to download

Project Board

The Haus der Geschichte Niederösterreich project dates back to a resolution by the Lower Austrian Collections’ collection strategy on 14 April 2014. A project board was appointed by the Lower Austrian Provincial government’s Department of Art and Culture to coordinate and steer the content-related work by the stake holding departments and institutions: Museum Niederösterreich, Danube University Krems, and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for War Consequences Research. This board is also the first contact point for the coordination of the many projects and proposals relating to the Haus der Geschichte.

Project Commissioner

Lower Austria, head of the Culture, Science and Education group and head of the Lower Austria Provincial Government’s Department of Art and Culture

Mag. Hermann Dikowitsch

Project Leader

Unit Manager Lower Austria Collections, Lower Austria Provincial Government Department of Art and Culture and head of the Center for Museum Collections Management at Danube University Krems

Mag. Armin Laussegger, MAS

Implementation Team House of History Lower Austria

From the day the expert committee presented the detailed, scientific concept, a dedicated team has been working on implementing the permanent exhibition. The team consists of historians, museologists and culture coaches (in part members of the committee) graphic designers and architects, led by Univ.-Prof. Dr. Stefan Karner and Gen.-Dir. Univ.-Doz. Dr. Wolfgang Maderthaner. The team members are:

Mag. Christoph H. Benedikter, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for War Consequences Research
Mag.ª Abelina Bischof, BA, Center for Museum Collections Management, Danube University Krems
Dr. Stefan Eminger, Lower Austrian Provincial Archives
Mag. Dr. Johannes Kritzl, Museum Niederösterreich
Mag. Armin Laussegger, MAS, Department of Art and Culture, Provincial Government Lower Austria
Mag. Philipp Lesiak, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for War Consequences Research
MMag.ª Sabine Nachbaur, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for War Consequences Research
Dr. Christian Rapp, rapp&wimberger Culture and Media Projects
Ing. Mag. Philip Szikszay, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for War Consequences Research
Mag. Benedikt Vogl, BA, Center for Museum Collections Management, Danube University Krems

Exhibition architects

PLANET Architects:
DI Gerhard Abel
DI Oliver Cmyral

Exhibition graphic designers

perndl+Co Design:
Mag. Gerhard Bauer
Mag. Roland Hörmann

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