Theater Museum (Vienna)
The Theater Museum (formerly: Austrian Theater Museum ) is a federal museum in the Lobkowitz Palace in Vienna. Organizationally, the theater museum is now part of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna and has been located in the Palais Lobkowitz in Vienna since 1991 .
history
The museum has its origins in the theater collection of the Austrian National Library , which in turn goes back to the Baroque period. In 1922 the theater collection was established as an independent organization under the direction of Joseph Gregor and significantly expanded in 1923 with the purchase of the largest private Theatralia collection that existed at the time, that of the castle actor and castle theater director Hugo Thimig . A significant part of the collection also comes from Stefan Zweig ; he bequeathed his manuscripts to the museum before fleeing from the National Socialists in 1938. With the estate of Hermann Bahr , the museum owns the most important literary estate of Viennese Modernism in Austria.
The theater collection should not be limited to literary and archival material, but should encompass theater in all its diversity. Closely related to this was the plan to found a theater museum for decades. The Austrian Theater Museum, originally housed in the premises of the Hanuschhof next to the Vienna State Opera , was not founded until 1975, with the primary task of organizing exhibitions with the existing material from the Austrian National Library. As there was soon insufficient space for the holdings, the Republic of Austria bought the nearby Lobkowitz Palace, which was finally opened on October 26, 1991 as the Austrian Theater Museum .
With this opening, the previous theater collection of the Austrian National Library was also merged with the holdings of the Theater Museum, creating one of the largest and most important collections in the field of theater and the possibility of its presentation in exquisite showrooms. At the beginning of 2001, the Austrian Theater Museum became a legal part of the scientific institution of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. On September 1, 2014, the holdings of the Vienna State Opera Museum , which was founded in 2005 and had been independent until then, were incorporated into the Theater Museum.
building
The Eroica Hall , named after Beethoven's 3rd Symphony , which is dedicated to his patron and master of the palace, Franz Joseph Maximilian Prince Lobkowitz, is remarkable . Numerous works by Beethoven were performed in the Palais Lobkowitz, where the composer often stayed as a guest.
Collections
The theater museum has over 1,000 stage models and 600 costumes and props from three centuries. The museum has more than 100,000 drawings and graphics as well as more than 700,000 theater photos. The stick puppets of the Art Nouveau artist Richard Teschner , including his figure mirror , are among the house's most unusual treasures . In total, the museum's holdings include more than 2,000,000 individual objects.
The specialized study library of the theater museum comprises around 100,000 books, volumes of journals, stage manuscripts and theater bills. A large part of the holdings is still the property of the Austrian National Library and can be researched via its catalog. It is on permanent loan in the theater museum.
In the archive is the Hermann Bahr / Anna Bahr-Mildenburg estate , the largest collection of Viennese Modernism in Austria . There are also relevant collections by Alfred Roller , Max Reinhardt , Heinrich Schnitzler , Hugo Thimig and Stefan Zweig .
Exhibitions
- 2015 Master Tön 'und Weisen… Heinz Zednik - 50 years of the State Opera and the Festival of Existence. Hermann Nitsch and the theater
- 2018/19: "I don't think anything, I'm just saying it." Ödön von Horváth and the theater
Web links
Coordinates: 48 ° 12 ′ 20.1 ″ N , 16 ° 22 ′ 5.1 ″ E