Ebensee Museum of Contemporary History

A museum dedicated to Austrian contemporary history from 1919 to the end of the 1950s. The exhibition concept places the regional perspective in relation to national history. The scenography utilizes two presentation levels. The front level displays documents on regional history and accounts from contemporary witnesses, while the rear level displays objects related to national history. The permanent exhibition is shown in three rooms of a former school building.

In 2016, stations were restructured and materials that the museum had recovered from the tunnels of the former Ebensee concentration camp where integrated in the exhibition.

Natural light was incorporated in the presentation. Lead pictures hang on glass panels in front of windows. The scenography uses niches and half-height room dividers in room 1. In Room 2 the tour begins with groups staggered in depth, they lead to a sequence that addresses the “Anschluss” (annexation) of 1938. Room 3 presents the Ebensee concentration camp, aspects of the war economy and local resistance groups.

Objects and texts were arranged in three superimposed levels. Objects that need to be looked at closely, such as written documents, newspaper reports, picture captions and information texts are at eye level (zone B). The objects above and below are bigger: lead pictures and larger formats are in zone A, medium formats in zone C. The red information text elements in zone B were designed by Carlos Toledo, assisted by Eva Dertschei.