The Collection

The accessibility and transparency of our collection are important to us and we are therefore currently working on the creation of an online database. To shorten the wait until completion, our preview of the online collection offers an introduction to our holdings.

As the country’s first state museum of contemporary history we are working on the creation of a collection that relates to Austria’s most recent history. The holdings bear witness to political history, social history, the history of everyday life, memory culture, sport history and economic history—documented through three-dimensional objects, documents, photographs, art and books as well as digital materials.

One central aspiration of our museum work is to place Austria’s history within a European and global context. Beyond this, we see it as the responsibility of the House of Austrian History to collect not only historical artefacts but up-to-the-minute objects: history is always happening now—therefore we work hard to document the present for the future, to place it at the disposal of researchers, and to make the past and the present accessible through exhibitions at the museum and on the Web.

As well as accepting donations, we employ the participative method of rapid response collecting in order to build up vibrant and multifaceted holdings. To do so, we actively seek contemporary objects from the public and acquire them directly for the museum as collection materials. In this way, the House of Austrian History can incorporate the voices and opinions of civil society and a wider public and keep its finger on the pulse.

Do you have private holdings that you would like to donate to the museum? You can find more information on our acceptance criteria and our contact details here.