Session 1: ‘Leading Creativity’
Author:
Sylvia Mader, Museum of Urban Archaeology of the City of Hall in Tyrol
Title:
Low budget projects need extraordinary dedication
Abstract:
This short paper provides a review of Austria’s small museums and their structure and
organisation and presents an example of an individually managed museum project in Tyrol.
Synergy effects resulting from cooperation with the University, the Federal Monuments
Office etc. are described. The short history of the Urban Archaeology Museum of Hall in
Tyrol gives an idea as to how personal dedication, inspiration and visionary zeal can develop
a small, regional archaeological museum into an institution with scientific publications,
research and exhibitions and as a meeting point for the citizens of the city.
Text:
My paper is devoted to one of Austria’s small museums and describes an example of an
individually managed museum project in Tyrol. First of all I would like to give a brief
overview of Austria’s museums; in particular, I want to describe some challenges we are
encountering and how we are responding to them. So let me begin by outlining the state of
affairs with regard to Austria’s museums. Each of the nine Austrian states, as with Tyrol, has
its own provincial government that includes a cultural department. To a certain extent, these
departments as well as the Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Culture subsidise our
museums. However, these funds are, in fact, insufficient and therefore the museums have to
obtain money from other sources.
As opposed to Austria’s large institutions, the small museums do not employ fulltime
professional staff. They mainly work with volunteers and involve professionals only when
necessary. Moreover, most of the museums are closed during the winter months and only
reopen in the spring, usually with a new exhibition or a special opening event designed to
attract local visitors as well as tourists.
Many small regional museums have private origins. An impassioned collector might start by
bringing together certain objects and ultimately an association is founded to maintain the
accumulated works. In various cases the public authorities are willing to provide some
financial aid. A good example of this is the Tyrolean State Museum. The collections belong to
a private society while the management is in the hands of a holding jointly established by the
state and this private society. The Urban Archaeology of the City of Hall in Tyrol is also
based on a private society. It was founded in 1996 as a partly self-governed institution of the
University of Innsbruck. Now it is managed by the private society but is still cooperating with
the University of Innsbruck and the Austrian Federal Monuments Office. Its purpose is to
research the history of the city, which includes excavations, the study of documents, creating
plans of the various construction periods, research on the history of particular buildings and
the fortification wall surrounding the city, which has existed since the 13th century.
Hall is an extremely interesting place. The medieval inhabitants made a living through trade
and handicrafts. Salt deposits also made the town rich and attracted people from far away. The
salt production ceased some time ago, but the numerous shops and inns still remain. In the
15th century, Tyrol’s sovereign decided to install a mint in Hall. Using a new technology for
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the production of coins, the mint of Hall achieved the leading position in Europe. Today the
inhabitants as well as tourists admire the medieval townscape. Romanic and Gothic remains
could meanwhile be determined in more than 50 houses and the surrounding wall (fig. 1). The
total amount of findings may be estimated at around 10,000 pieces, but most of them are
fragments.
From the very beginning, Urban Archaeology of the City of Hall not only rented an office and
storage rooms, but also a large room suitable for restoration work and the presentation of
some findings. We even had a latrine pit in situ there because the room had formerly been a
court. People could step in and watch the archaeologists working while admiring the findings,
the Gothic vault of the museum’s room and the latrine pit. But few people came.
The 700th anniversary of the City of Hall (the city received its town charter in 1303) was a
good chance to present the results of seven years of research to the citizens of Hall and to
involve them as much as possible. The society of the Urban Archaeology of the City of Hall
wanted to create an exhibition for “everyone” – in other words, an exhibition with which all
inhabitants of the town would be able to identify and not only the typical intellectual museum
clients. The problem was to find a location because the workroom and showroom of the
Urban Archaeology were too small; moreover, we were also concerned that nobody would go
there. With these concerns in mind, our team came up with the idea to present the objects in
the downtown shops, so we asked several shop owners whose businesses were located in the
historical main streets whether they would agree to this suggestion. Finally, 20 shop owners
agreed to display the exhibits in their shop windows. As an allowance they had to pay €400 (~
US $400).
After this campaign we were confronted with 18 different sites with various conditions in
size, lighting and security equipment. The unified presentation draft could only be based on
colours and basic forms. Furthermore, the excavated objects had different levels of quality; in
fact, many of them were not that amazing to look at. Therefore we decided to combine the
objects with contemporary pictures that showed the objects in use (fig. 2). The photos were
presented on the text panels. My colleague Walter Hauser, who had studied architecture
before he started to work at the Austrian Federal Office for the Care of Monuments, designed
the panels and the showcases. The archaeologist, Alexander Zanseco prepared the objects and
I looked for paintings, drawings and murals that could be lent to us free of charge. The
number of domestic pictures itself is restricted and many have yet to be recorded. The amount
of pictures available free of charge is even more limited. I managed to take most of the photos
from murals in old churches, others I obtained from museum colleagues. I even received some
from IMAREAL, an institute for research on medieval objects, which offers an online service
of the data-based register of medieval pictures in Austria.
We listed the shops, the objects and the pictures to see what was missing and then considered
how to organise the route that visitors could follow. Our idea was to show each object in a
corresponding shop, e.g. 14th century ceramic in a shop for tableware, multifunctional
medieval ear-spoons in a drugstore, a model for sweet cakes at the baker’s shop and so on.
There were also some nice objects of foreign origin such as a Renaissance “lovers’ cup”. The
reader may be aware that in the 15th century, Renaissance art was widespread in Italy, while
north of the Alps the late Gothic epoch had not yet ended. The cup had been used at
matrimonial ceremonies: the fiancés drank from this cup to confirm their decision for a life
together. A fragment of a woman’s figurine was excavated, the Kruseler, so called because
she wears the Kruseler, a frilled-cap that was in vogue from 1340–1430. To give people some
idea of what she looked like, we compared it with a wooden sculpture from the same period.
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Let me go quickly through some necessary arrangements, which we obtained free of charge:
1. Publication. The scientific results and the exhibition are published in a volume (a
special issue) of a University periodical.
2. The public relations were done by the tourist marketing office in Hall.
3. Security. The chief executive of a private security company is a friend of mine, so I
asked him to pay special attention to the shops during the exhibition. The fire brigade
was invited to the complementary events. They promised to take responsibility for the
safety of the exhibition – in exchange for a few beers!
However, even though we were very pleased with the exhibition, we found it a pity that we
could not evaluate its success with regard to attendance. We did not charge any admission
fees and therefore visitors could not be counted. How should we distinguish between
customers visiting the shops and visitors to the exhibition? What we did observe was that Hall
was crowded at that time and that people enjoyed the events in connection with Hall in
Tyrol’s anniversary celebrations. All in all we felt that it was a very successful exhibition and
its target – to reach all inhabitants – was achieved. I would say that we found the right balance
among the various sides: the Society as the client, the objects, the locations and the visitors.
In 2006 a museum was founded (fig. 3) “to make research transparent and visible for the
public”, to use a popular phrase. I was chosen to lead this museum because I was the
“museum expert” in the society. The collection consists of the findings excavated in Hall, the
greater part having been derived from latrine pits (fig. 4), which had been used as toilets as
well as garbage disposal. So the findings provide a good insight into every day life of the
Middle Ages.
Shortly after the opening of the museum we engaged a young archaeologist for guided tours
and museum pedagogy. Regarding public relations, we produced museum folders and printed
guides. We also arranged “excavation-days” for the public, an annual presentation of the
recent excavation results in the field and we participated in the “Night Seeing” . The Night
Seeing is comparable with the Notte Bianca in Rome, a special night, once a year, when all
shops are open until midnight and music bands as well as performances entertain the people.
On our first “Night Seeing”, we counted 300 visitors (compare: 11,492 inhabitants of Hall in
Tyrol). I placed articles dealing with the museum wherever I could, e.g. those published in the
journal of ICOM-Austria, in “Kulturberichte” (journal of the State of Tyrol), in the
(publication) series of the university and naturally in the first volume of our own publication
“Forum Hall. Neues zur Geschichte der Stadt”. Step by step we tried to improve the image of
the museum and of the research institution.
As a consequence of these activities we did improve our image and, as a consequence, we
became a partner in a newly formed organization. Parts of Hasegg, one of Tyrol’s most
important castles (fig. 5), have recently been restored and scientifically documented. The
Urban Archaeology was involved in the research. The City of Hall decided to establish a
cultural centre with the most important museums of Hall. The mint museum was the first in
this centre. The museum of the City of Hall (collection of town history and art) is to be one of
the museums in the castle, but has not yet reopened. The Urban Archaeology Museum is
actually the third one.
An exhibition dealing with the Thaler, a former German, Austrian and Swiss silver coin,
formed part of the great opening ceremony of the castle. We were partners in this exhibition
on the silver coin, its value and its social aspects around 1500 (fig. 7). Our main advantage of
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this exhibition was not only the synergetic effect of the infrastructure, e.g. showcases and
security, but also the fact that this infrastructure became the basis of our future museum.
Moreover, our finance has now been guaranteed for the foreseeable future. The Urban
Archaeology is now permanently supported by the City of Hall and the State of Tyrol. We
enjoy the synergetic effect of housing together with the former installed mint museum:
ticketing, security, various help in different affairs (such as technical equipment for lectures
etc.). Visitors reach our museum at the end of their tour through the mint museum. Our small
museum consists of an outer long rectangular showroom, a hall/multifunctional area separated
by a glass wall and an office behind the hall (fig. 6). The presentation of the outer room deals
with objects of every day life in the Middle Ages and at the beginning of modern times. The
hall/multifunctional area is used for restoration work, but it can also be adapted for lectures or
workshops as well as for museum pedagogy or temporary exhibitions (fig. 7), and it is also
part of the permanent presentation. Here are located the showcases with objects that document
the development of the city: construction elements of bridges and houses, roof tiles, stove
tiles, medieval glass windows and so on.
In general we went further with the concept of our former museum in downtown Hall and
provided a workroom where visitors can watch the archaeologists restoring objects, combined
with an exhibition room. But in the castle of Hasegg we placed emphasis on the exhibition
and were able to realise it in a better design and in a more attractive ambience (fig. 8). The
outer showroom is permanently open to the public and runs without staff. The security of the
objects (all in showcases) is guaranteed by an alarm system with room observation. When
passing the showcases in the described room, visitors catch a view of the second part of the
presentation in the multifunctional area behind the glass wall. When staff are on duty this area
is open to visitors who can take a closer look at the exhibits, may use the library or enjoy
expert talks with the archaeologist(s). The combination of an open and a closed part of the
exhibition helps us to save personal costs. This is very important with regard to the fact that it
is much easier to obtain funds for projects or equipment than find governmental or private
support for the cost of personnel.
The castle of Hasegg, our new location, is easy to find; its high tower can be seen from the
motorway and it is signposted from all the main roads. There is a large parking area near the
castle. A lot of information is provided on our new website (http://www.stadtarchaeologiehall.at/), there are weekly guided tours in two languages and small events on special topics.
The feedback is now very satisfying.
But there are still a lot of things that could be improved, which will form projects for the
future! Though the society is now able to cover its basic overheads, such as rent, operation of
the museum and fixed remuneration of the urban archaeologist, with governmental and
municipal subsidies (partly benefit in kind), we still have to obtain money from other sources.
Private companies fund various excavations; plenty of volunteer hours are done by some
members of the society. We are lucky to rank many experts in archaeology, history, art
history, sustainable building research, monument protection, etc. among the members of the
society. We have started with a data-based inventory. Our next aims are the continual
improvement of research on the museum’s objects in their historical context as well as
scientific exchange with other urban archaeologies.
Acknowledgement
I thank Dr. W. Gerald Tremewan (Truro, U.K.) for correcting the English manuscript.
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Figures:
Fig. 1. Map of Hall in Tyrol. Romanesque and early Gothic (red) and late Gothic (blue) built
volumes. Map: Walter Hauser.
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Fig. 2. Exhibition on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the City of Hall. Panel and
exhibits in one of the participating shops. Photos: Alexander Zanesco.
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Fig. 3a. Workroom and showroom of the Museum of Urban Archaeology at its former
location in a medieval house in the old city of Hall in Tyrol. Fig. 3b. People could watch the
working archaeologists. Photos: Alexander Zanesco, Chris Moser.
Fig. 4. There are two types of latrine pits, squared and round built. At a depth of
approximately 18 m there are different findings. Photo: Alexander Zanesco.
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Fig. 5. The Castle of Hasegg houses the Museum of Urban Archaeology of the City of Hall.
Photo: Münze Hall.
Fig. 6. Plan of the Museum (from left to right): office (green), hall/multifunctional area
(violet), outer exhibition room (blue), square and rectangular showcases (white). Plan:
Benedikt Gratl.
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Fig. 7. Exhibition “Der Taler um 1500” in the hall/multifunctional area. Photo: Sandra
Masoun-Kaindl.
Fig. 8. Permanent presentation in the hall/multifunctional area. Behind the showcases are
pictures of the excavation projects printed on the roller blinds. Photo: Andrea Aschauer.
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