Vorarlberger Landesmuseum
Encyclopedia
The vorarlberg museum (former name Vorarlberger Landesmuseum "VLM") in Bregenz
is the state art and cultural
museum
of the Austrian
federal state
of Vorarlberg
. It was founded in 1857 and has since been a centre for collection and preservation of the state's art and cultural material. The Museum conducts research into this material and makes it available to the public. In terms of content, the Museum's work focuses on Vorarlberg material, and at the same time considers this in a context which goes beyond the state's boundaries. The collections, which the museum is attempting both to deepen and to broaden, specialise in archaeology
, history
, history of art
and folklore
. The museum co-operates with other national, international and regional cultural institutions.
The museum building opened in 1860 but was soon too small for the rapidly expanding collections. Despite financial contributions from local industry and from the town of Bregenz, it was not financially possible to commence building of a new purpose-built museum until 1902. The new state of the art museum opened in 1905. It was designed by Georg Baumeister and incorporated heating and fire and flood protection. Despite provision for growth of the collections, it was soon overflowing again. Despite complaints in the 1930s of shortage of space, it was not until the 1950s that the next reconstruction took place: a new storey was added and the decorative façade was removed. It was reopened in 1960 and represented the first investment in the building for half a century to address the increasing expectations of visitors.
Meanwhile in 1947-48 the collections and the museum building had been transferred to the state of Vorarlberg. Since 1997 it has had management support, together with the Bregenz art gallery and the Vorarlberg state theatre, from a management service company set up for that purpose.
The museum building is currently in a redesign phase. On 5 October 2009 it was closed for around three years for reconstruction and extension to twice its current floor area, which will start with the demolition of the existing building. The new building will incorporate the neighbouring former district administrative centre.
Bregenz
-Culture:The annual summer music festival Bregenzer Festspiele is a world-famous festival which takes place on and around a stage on Lake Constance, where a different opera is performed every second year.-Sport:* A1 Bregenz HB is a handball team....
is the state art and cultural
Cultural history
The term cultural history refers both to an academic discipline and to its subject matter.Cultural history, as a discipline, at least in its common definition since the 1970s, often combines the approaches of anthropology and history to look at popular cultural traditions and cultural...
museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
of the Austrian
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...
federal state
States of Austria
Austria is a federal republic made up of nine states, known in German as Länder . Since Land is also the German word for a country, the term Bundesländer is often used instead to avoid ambiguity. The Constitution of Austria uses both terms...
of Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg is the westernmost federal-state of Austria. Although it is the second smallest in terms of area and population , it borders three countries: Germany , Switzerland and Liechtenstein...
. It was founded in 1857 and has since been a centre for collection and preservation of the state's art and cultural material. The Museum conducts research into this material and makes it available to the public. In terms of content, the Museum's work focuses on Vorarlberg material, and at the same time considers this in a context which goes beyond the state's boundaries. The collections, which the museum is attempting both to deepen and to broaden, specialise in archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, history of art
History of art
The History of art refers to visual art which may be defined as any activity or product made by humans in a visual form for aesthetical or communicative purposes, expressing ideas, emotions or, in general, a worldview...
and folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
. The museum co-operates with other national, international and regional cultural institutions.
History
The museum was founded in 1857 by a private association with the aim of securing the state's cultural heritage, preventing the export of significant materials, and where possible achieving the return of materials previously exported.The museum building opened in 1860 but was soon too small for the rapidly expanding collections. Despite financial contributions from local industry and from the town of Bregenz, it was not financially possible to commence building of a new purpose-built museum until 1902. The new state of the art museum opened in 1905. It was designed by Georg Baumeister and incorporated heating and fire and flood protection. Despite provision for growth of the collections, it was soon overflowing again. Despite complaints in the 1930s of shortage of space, it was not until the 1950s that the next reconstruction took place: a new storey was added and the decorative façade was removed. It was reopened in 1960 and represented the first investment in the building for half a century to address the increasing expectations of visitors.
Meanwhile in 1947-48 the collections and the museum building had been transferred to the state of Vorarlberg. Since 1997 it has had management support, together with the Bregenz art gallery and the Vorarlberg state theatre, from a management service company set up for that purpose.
The museum building is currently in a redesign phase. On 5 October 2009 it was closed for around three years for reconstruction and extension to twice its current floor area, which will start with the demolition of the existing building. The new building will incorporate the neighbouring former district administrative centre.
Directors of vorarlberg museum
- 1948-1986 - Dr. Elmar Vonbank
- 1986-2006 - Dr. Helmut Swozilek
- 2006-2011 - Dr. Tobias G. NatterTobias G. NatterTobias G. Natter is an Austrian art historian, director of the Vorarlberger Landesmuseum in Bregenz and internationally recognised expert on Viennese art around 1900.- Career :...
- since April 2011 - Dr. Andreas Rudigier