Collecting in Extraordinary Times

Visit the web exhibition “Corona Sammlen – Ein Krisenjahr in Objekten” (German only) for a first look at our holdings relating to the ‘time of coronavirus’.

For the House of Austrian History, one of its purposes is to collect in the present in order to make history available in the future—to be able to discuss objects in an exhibition with a broad public as well as to preserve them for academic research and education work in the future. To this end, we collect objects, photographs, documents, books but also digital material as a matter of principle.

The coronavirus crisis has evidently raised awareness of museum collection practices: museums that deal with social, political and cultural questions have to document current developments as they happen in the present day. Since a period such as the present one is already considered by many to be ‘historic’, this becomes all the more understandable. During this crisis, the hdgö has continued to collect in different areas in line with its collection strategy. These include: 

Political history

(e.g. objects relating to the cancelled local elections in Vorarlberg and Styria)

Social history and the history of society

(e.g. appeals put out by neighbourhood initiatives and for solidarity)

History of everyday life

(e.g. face masks made from dirndl fabric)

Sport and economic history

(e.g. materials from companies reacting to the crisis)

Memory culture

(e.g. documenting the sudden interest in the ‘Spanish flu’ of 1918/19)

The hdgö collects throughout Austria with an international eye. The collection of digital documents is important as a basic principle but has become particularly relevant at the present time—at the hdgö this relates to the documentation of social media postings and likewise videos from private mobile phones, which are acquired for the federal collections in perpetuity and preserved there—namely as data.

We are always pleased to learn about your private holdings and are happy to provide information. When offered any artefacts, we would first attempt to find out whether our collection is the right place for your cultural and historical treasures or your objects of memory. Before we decide whether to accept or reject a donation, we apply the following criteria:

-        What story does this object tell?

-        Does this object stand for a particular event, for an experience or a pivotal period of time?

-        Are then any other materials or information relating to this object?

-        Is the object in good condition? Is it complete?

-        Where does this object come from? What is its provenance?

-        Does the object deepen or supplement the existing collection in a meaningful way?

If you have private holdings you would like to donate to the museum, please get in touch with us via sammlung@hdgoe.at, and if you are able to send photos as well, that would be a great help.

The hdgö’s website offers it another tool for reaching a wider public: our (digital) museum is always open. Our hands-on digital exhibitions invite the public to change web exhibitions and add their own perspectives. Anything uploaded here that complies with our terms of use will be published immediately. Unlike our digital collections, the hdgö is not acquiring objects here in order to preserve them for the future; rather, it is providing exhibition space to encourage shared discussions about history and the present. The rights to these photos are not transferred in perpetuity and can be withdrawn at any time. Contributors retain ownership of their photos; the hdgö exhibits them.