Terms of Use

The House of Austrian History offers several interactive Digital Exhibitions and other modules that are publicly available free of charge and to which users can contribute their own material on a voluntary and unpaid basis (without reimbursement). The aim of these initiatives is to use the web as an exhibition space and to give visitors opportunities for broadening the House of Austrian History’s physical exhibitions.

These web portals are operated by the Austrian National Library, as the legal entity responsible for the House of Austrian History (hdgö). The following terms of use (including the privacy policy) apply to the web platform www.hdgoe.at and all its subpages. Please note that to upload files you must provide your real name and be at least 14 years old.

1. Your User Details

To upload files you must provide an email address and your real name. Please note that your name will be publicly visible. Once approved by the curators, each of your contributions will be published alongside your name and any information entered for that file (such as licence, title, information, creator, contributed by, year, location, description and other details). You cannot change these details yourself after upload. If you wish to change any of the details, please contact us at feedback@hdgoe.at

2. Responsibility and Rules of Conduct

2.1 Your personal data will be treated in strict confidence by the Austrian National Library and hdgö. You can find information on how the Austrian National Library processes personal data and on your rights as a data subject under data protection law in its  Data protection information. Please respect the privacy of others and do not publish any personal information or images of others without their consent. This applies in particular to people who are or can be identified in the material you provide.

2.2 By contributing or uploading files you confirm that use and licensing (see section 3 below) do not infringe or violate third-party rights, including copyright, personality or data protection rights. If a third party alleges infringement, we reserve the right to take appropriate measures to limit damage and pursue legal remedies, including disclosing your personal data to third parties.

2.3 The hdgö web portal is governed by respect for others and tolerance. Uploads containing insults, defamatory statements, threats, personal attacks, inflammatory remarks or discrimination on the grounds of origin, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, gender or age will not be published on our portals.

2.4 A friendly tone and respectful dialogue are essential for a community to function. Please describe your content in the way you would like to have it described to you: respectfully, informatively and responsibly.

2.5 Please refrain from spam. Commercial advertising and offers of products or services are likewise not permitted. Multiple similar contributions from the same person will be published only in small numbers.

2.6 Due to the volume of contributions, the hdgö and the Austrian National Library cannot guarantee full quality control of all contributions. Please report any unlawful or problematic content to feedback@hdgoe.at. We reserve the right to edit, shorten or remove contributions that breach the principles of respectful interaction and to exclude contributors who breach these rules.

3. Licensing of Media

Material uploaded by users is made available under a licence that requires only the attribution of the rights holder(s) and limits use to non-commercial purposes. This corresponds to Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0. It means that your material can be reused by the general public for any purpose—except for commercial purposes—provided that the name of the rights holder(s) is stated correctly by the new user.

Without your consent to license your contributed material under this licence, we cannot accept your contribution.

4. Notifications

We will use the contact details you provide only to clarify any questions about your contribution or to inform you about that specific upload. If you are interested in learning more about the work and organisation of the hdgö, please sign up for the hdgö newsletter.

5. Disclaimer

5.1 We prepare website information to the best of our knowledge and belief. However, despite exercising all due care, we cannot guarantee that all information provided on our websites is accurate, up to date or correct. We will endeavour to correct errors as we are made aware of them. All contributions reflect the personal opinions of their authors. The Austrian National Library accepts no responsibility for these contributions unless it has actual knowledge of unlawful content or is aware of facts or circumstances that would make unlawful activity or information evident in the context of damage claims.

5.2 The same applies to all content and links posted by us or users. The Austrian National Library and hdgö have no influence over the design or content of linked websites. We expressly distance ourselves from the content of linked websites and do not adopt it as our own. This applies to all external websites that can be reached via our websites.

6. Termination

Users have no right to permanent availability of our web platform. User contributions do not form part of the hdgö’s collection and are therefore not recorded or catalogued as such. The Austrian National Library and hdgö may suspend the web platform temporarily or permanently, or delete, change or supplement stored content at any time.

7. Governing Law

These Terms of Use are governed by Austrian law. The place of jurisdiction for all disputes is Vienna. If any provision of these Terms of Use becomes invalid or void, the remaining provisions remain in force. We reserve the right to amend these Terms of Use.

Last updated: March 5, 2026