Universalmuseum Joanneum Press office

Universalmuseum Joanneum [email protected] Mariahilferstraße 4, 8020 Graz, Austria Telephone +43-316/8017-9211 www.museum-joanneum.at Universalmuseum Joanneum Austria’s first museum

History Research and art, past and future, tradition and avant-garde—for almost 200 years, various branches of science and culture have come together in Austria’s oldest museum in a living panorama. More than 4,5 million items in the collections housed in 10 or so locations throughout Styria are collected, preserved, researched and comprehensively exhibited and communicated by around 500 permanent staff.

Archduke Johann of Austria laid the foundations for the Joanneum in 1811 by making his extensive scientific collections available to the public. In its foundation statutes, he invested it with the duty of “furthering cultural education”, “stimulating the thirst for knowledge” and “facilitating learning”. As the Inner Austrian National Museum, in the early decades the Joanneum was also highly regarded as a teaching institution for science and technology, whose enlightening work permanently improved and assisted the social and economic development of Styria. Leading 19th century scientists such as Friedrich Mohs (Graz-based inventor of the Mohs hardness scale for minerals) and palaeobotanist Franz Xaver Unger taught at the Joanneum, which in 1864 acquired the status of an “imperial technical college” (k.k. Technische Hochschule). In the late 19th century, the state museum side of the Joanneum was separated geographically and organisationally from the technical college, which was reconstituted in 1975 as Graz University of Technology. But other important institutions such as the University of Leoben, the Styrian State Archives and Styrian State Library likewise originated in the Joanneum, which is regarded as the most important and most venerable scholarly, scientific and cultural institution in the state of Styria.

Over the 20th century, the Joanneum (Styrian State Museum) evolved into the largest multi- disciplinary museum in Central Europe. In order to give more prominence to this unique feature, in September 2009 the former Styrian State Museum (Landesmuseum) was renamed the Universalmuseum Joanneum (Joanneum Universal Museum). This high-sounding name reflects the incomparable, richly faceted profile of our collections, which contain an extraordinary variety of items housed in a series of architecturally remarkable historic structures, for example the world-famous Styrian Armoury (Landeszeughaus), UNESCO World Heritage site Schloss Eggenberg, and the biomorphic Kunsthaus Graz.

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Organisation Organisationally, the Joanneum is divided into 10 museum departments:

Geosciences Geology Mineralogy

Biosciences Botany Zoology

Archaeology & Coin Cabinet Archaeology Coin Cabinet

Schloss Eggenberg & Alte Galerie Schloss Eggenberg and park Alte Galerie

Modern and contemporary art Neue Galerie Kunsthaus

Outdoor art Art in public space Sculpture Park

Cultural history Museum im Palais Styrian Armoury

Everyday culture Folk life (ethnology) Multimedia Collections

Schloss Stainz Hunting Collection Agricultural Collection

Schloss Trautenfels Landscape Museum

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In addition to the museum departments, there are four other departments with support functions.

Support services Financial control Bookkeeping and accounts Human resources Personnel development Building services and maintenance IT & communications Logistics

External relations Sponsors/fundraising Marketing Press Events management Graphics Museum Academy

Visitor services Education and appreciation Customer loyalty

Museum services Registry Restoration Central workshop

Universalmuseum Joanneum GmbH (UMJ) Since the collections in the Joanneum belonged to the state of Styria from the time the museum was set up in 1811, for a long time the Joanneum was closely tied to the Styrian government. However, in 2003 it was converted into a not-for-profit limited company in order to keep pace with international museum practice. With the founding of the limited company (GmbH), the Joanneum (UMJ) acquired a high degree of autonomy in matters of personnel and budgeting. Nonetheless, the state of Styria remains the owner of the assets and holds the rights of ownership in the museum. The limited company is headed by two directors—Peter Pakesch as Artistic Intendant and Dr Wolfgang Muchitsch as Academic Director. Page 4

Programme Our programme of exhibitions and events ranges over a broad spectrum of art, culture and science, covering a wide range of subjects. On top of that, the Joanneum publishes not only scientific periodicals, exhibition catalogues and financial reports, but also series of books on its collections. Information folders, newsletters and social media plus a monthly programme booklet round off the information available to the public.