Research

Research at the Center for Museum Collections Management focuses on work on original objects. The research areas are derived from the collections of the Provincial Collections of Lower Austria and lie in the fields of art and cultural history, archaeology, natural history and conservation and restoration sciences.

Research topics are developed both comprehensively within the Centre and in close collaboration with other universities, non-university research institutions and museums on a national and international scale. The collections and research results are presented extensively to the public in scientific catalogues, lectures and publications, and also in exhibitions.
 

The scientific cataloguing of the natural history collections of the Lower Austrian Provincial Collections is an ongoing process. One current focus is digitally recording the Schwingenschuß Collection in the inventory database "The Museum System" (TMS), which facilitates searches and orientation in the approximately 570 drawers of the collection. Leo Schwingenschuß's posthumously acquired butterfly collection in 1954 was certainly one of the largest private Lepidoptera collections of its time. It not only completely covers the Lower Austrian species, but also large parts of the species spectrum of the Palearctic zone.

Cultural artefacts without a fully documented provenance can sometimes be a sensitive issue for collections. The aim of provenance research at the Center for Museum Collections Management is, on the one hand, to clarify the origin of objects before a possible acquisition and, on the other hand, to systematically search the regional collections of Lower Austria for cultural property confiscated as a result of Nazi persecution. The aim here is to prove the provenance of the cultural assets concerned and to contribute to clarifying the ownership situation, such as in the current research case "First Snow in Dachau" by Theodor von Hörmann from unknown Jewish property, which had been acquired by the Gaumuseum Niederdonau in 1943.

Innovative digging methods are the basis of the research excavation Haselbach (municipality Niederhollabrunn, Weinviertel), which is carried out in cooperation with the University of Strasbourg. The synergy of Austrian and French research practice has led to remarkable results. The subject of the study is the organization and economic structure of a medium-sized settlement center from the Latène period. The research project offers new insights into centralization and urbanization processes in Celtic settlements from the 3rd to the 1st century BC.

The collections of the Moravian-Silesian Museum of Local History, which have been incorporated into the regional collections of Lower Austria, represent a significant extension of the cultural history collection sector. The extensively documented collection is being scientifically processed, recorded in detail and inventoried. Thus, after almost one hundred years of collection history, its preservation continues to be assured for the future. Cooperation with the support association responsible for the erstwhile museum allows for extremely accurate documentation.

Collections are seismographs of the respective time and represent a society’s cultural heritage. With the sharpening of the acquisition strategy for artistic and scientific bequests and estates, the course is set for the targeted development of a bequests and estates museum collection for Lower Austria that takes into account Lower Austria-related aspects, social relevance as well as artistic, historical and scientific significance in connection with originality and authenticity. In addition to the purchase of works, documentation materials provide insights into the genesis of the works, and also into the biographies of the artists and scholars.