Austrian Theatre Museum
Encyclopedia
The Austrian Theatre Museum, or Österreichisches Theatermuseum, is the national museum of theatre history in Austria
. It is situated in the Palais Lobkowitz
in Vienna
.
, which included not only books and ephemera but also many other sorts of theatrical objects. This was a long-established tradition: the Hofbibliothek had been assembling theatricalia since the late 17th century. In 1922 the theatrical collections were set up as a separate organisation, under the directorship of Joseph Gregor (1888-1960), who with his spectacular exhibition from the library holdings in the same year succeeded in attracting the gift of the enormous private collection of theatre items belonging to Hugo Thimig
, director of the Burgtheater
.
The idea of a theatre museum was also put forward at this time, and during the 1930s a suite of rooms in the Burgtheater was set aside for this purpose, but the endeavour ceased in 1938.
The Austrian Theatre Museum was not established until 1975, initially in premises next to the Wiener Oper, with the prime function of arranging exhibitions of the material in the National Library. The premises were however too small, and at length the Austrian Government acquired and renovated the Palais Lobkowitz, opened as the Österreichisches Theatermuseum on 26 October 1991.
The new museum combined the care of the printed and archival items from the National Library collections with that of museum objects. In 2001 the Theatre Museum ceased to be part of the National Library and instead became part of the Kunsthistorisches Museum
.
The library contains about 80,000 books and periodicals, and unlike the rest of the collections is technically still the property of the National Library, on permanent loan to the Theatre Museum.
A special room is devoted to the Jugendstil artist Richard Teschner (1879–1948).
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. It is situated in the Palais Lobkowitz
Palais Lobkowitz
Palais Lobkowitz, or Palais Dietrichstein-Lobkowitz, is a Baroque palace in Vienna, Austria. It was owned by the noble Lobkowitz family.Today it houses the theatre museum of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.- History :...
in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
.
History
The museum has its origins in the theatre-related collections that accrued to the Austrian National LibraryAustrian National Library
The Austrian National Library , is the largest library in Austria, with 7.4 million items in its collections. It is located in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna; since 2005 some of the collections are located in the baroque Palais Mollard-Clary...
, which included not only books and ephemera but also many other sorts of theatrical objects. This was a long-established tradition: the Hofbibliothek had been assembling theatricalia since the late 17th century. In 1922 the theatrical collections were set up as a separate organisation, under the directorship of Joseph Gregor (1888-1960), who with his spectacular exhibition from the library holdings in the same year succeeded in attracting the gift of the enormous private collection of theatre items belonging to Hugo Thimig
Hugo Thimig
Hugo August Thimig , although born in Germany, spent his working life in Austria as an actor, director, and director of the Burgtheater in Vienna.-Biography:...
, director of the Burgtheater
Burgtheater
The Burgtheater , originally known as K.K. Theater an der Burg, then until 1918 as the K.K. Hofburgtheater, is the Austrian National Theatre in Vienna and one of the most important German language theatres in the world.The Burgtheater was created in 1741 and has become known as "die Burg" by the...
.
The idea of a theatre museum was also put forward at this time, and during the 1930s a suite of rooms in the Burgtheater was set aside for this purpose, but the endeavour ceased in 1938.
The Austrian Theatre Museum was not established until 1975, initially in premises next to the Wiener Oper, with the prime function of arranging exhibitions of the material in the National Library. The premises were however too small, and at length the Austrian Government acquired and renovated the Palais Lobkowitz, opened as the Österreichisches Theatermuseum on 26 October 1991.
The new museum combined the care of the printed and archival items from the National Library collections with that of museum objects. In 2001 the Theatre Museum ceased to be part of the National Library and instead became part of the Kunsthistorisches Museum
Kunsthistorisches Museum
The Kunsthistorisches Museum is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on Ringstraße, it is crowned with an octagonal dome...
.
Contents
The museum holds in excess of 100,000 drawings; 1,000 set and architect's models; over 700,000 photos; approximately 2,000 objects relating to famous actors, dramatists and composers; and costumes, props and so on to designs by Kokoschka and Wotruba. In total it comprises more than 2,000,000 separate objects.The library contains about 80,000 books and periodicals, and unlike the rest of the collections is technically still the property of the National Library, on permanent loan to the Theatre Museum.
A special room is devoted to the Jugendstil artist Richard Teschner (1879–1948).