The first special exhibition of the House of Austrian History is devoted to Alma and Arnold Rosé, two icons of Austrian musical life and Viennese high society. In 1938, both Arnold and Alma Rosé’s careers, like those of many others, were abruptly cut short by the Anschluss, an event with which the location of the House of Austrian History is closely connected. It was here, from the Neue Burg and to the rapturous applause of the masses below, that on March 15 1938, Hitler officially announced the German annexation of Austria.

More than 66,000 Jewish Austrians did not survive the Shoah. Alma Rosé (1906–1944) was one of them. Her father Arnold Rosé died in exile in London in 1946. For many years the two musicians were forgotten in Austria. Their famous violins are still played in the major opera houses and concert halls of the world.

Following the opening of the House of Austrian History, its special exhibition space on the top floor of the Neue Burg was named “Alma Rosé Plateau”.

You can get your personal copy of the publication (€10,-) at the hdgö Servicedesk in front of the Neue Burg at Heldenplatz in Vienna. You may also order it at office@hdgoe.at