Objects Confiscated During the Nazi Era in Exhibitions of Austrian Federal Museums

Even though the restitution of Nazi-looted property from Austrian federal museums is clearly regulated by law, dealing with objects that are still or have been returned to the collections, or with gaps in exhibitions that have resulted from restitutions, poses challenges for museum work. Through a...

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Main Author: Andrea Berger
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: StudienVerlag 2023-09-01
Series:Österreichische Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaften
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.univie.ac.at/index.php/oezg/article/view/8246
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author Andrea Berger
author_facet Andrea Berger
author_sort Andrea Berger
collection DOAJ
description Even though the restitution of Nazi-looted property from Austrian federal museums is clearly regulated by law, dealing with objects that are still or have been returned to the collections, or with gaps in exhibitions that have resulted from restitutions, poses challenges for museum work. Through a semiotic analysis of museum media (exhibitions, audio guides, information boards as well as museum shops) in Austrian federal museums in 2020 and 2021, this article investigates whether and how the topics of Nazi-looted property, provenance research, and restitution are represented. The research revealed that these topics, which are inevitably linked to violence, are often completely ignored or only presented in exhibition sections on the histories of the museums, as if the problem belonged to the past.
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spelling doaj.art-a4770b490b6f4e31adc81f0572839fbc2023-09-20T07:42:50ZdeuStudienVerlagÖsterreichische Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaften1016-765X2707-966X2023-09-0134110.25365/oezg-2023-34-1-8Objects Confiscated During the Nazi Era in Exhibitions of Austrian Federal MuseumsAndrea Berger0Vienna Museum of Science and Technology Even though the restitution of Nazi-looted property from Austrian federal museums is clearly regulated by law, dealing with objects that are still or have been returned to the collections, or with gaps in exhibitions that have resulted from restitutions, poses challenges for museum work. Through a semiotic analysis of museum media (exhibitions, audio guides, information boards as well as museum shops) in Austrian federal museums in 2020 and 2021, this article investigates whether and how the topics of Nazi-looted property, provenance research, and restitution are represented. The research revealed that these topics, which are inevitably linked to violence, are often completely ignored or only presented in exhibition sections on the histories of the museums, as if the problem belonged to the past. https://journals.univie.ac.at/index.php/oezg/article/view/8246museologyNazi persecutionprovenance researchrestitution
spellingShingle Andrea Berger
Objects Confiscated During the Nazi Era in Exhibitions of Austrian Federal Museums
Österreichische Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaften
museology
Nazi persecution
provenance research
restitution
title Objects Confiscated During the Nazi Era in Exhibitions of Austrian Federal Museums
title_full Objects Confiscated During the Nazi Era in Exhibitions of Austrian Federal Museums
title_fullStr Objects Confiscated During the Nazi Era in Exhibitions of Austrian Federal Museums
title_full_unstemmed Objects Confiscated During the Nazi Era in Exhibitions of Austrian Federal Museums
title_short Objects Confiscated During the Nazi Era in Exhibitions of Austrian Federal Museums
title_sort objects confiscated during the nazi era in exhibitions of austrian federal museums
topic museology
Nazi persecution
provenance research
restitution
url https://journals.univie.ac.at/index.php/oezg/article/view/8246
work_keys_str_mv AT andreaberger objectsconfiscatedduringthenazierainexhibitionsofaustrianfederalmuseums