Preface

In the spring of 1994, after about ten yearsof renovation, the Austrian Museum of Folk Life andFolk Art opened its new, permanent exhibition.The resumption of the exhibition also marks the 100thanniversary of the Society and of the Austrian Museumof Folk Life and Folk Art in Vienna.

The museum was founded in 1895 by theethnographers Michael Haberlandt( 1860-1940) andWilhelm Hein( 1861-1903) then at the Natural HistoryMuseum in Vienna. The inspiration for the new museumcame from the Society of Ethnography and PopularCulture which was also founded by Haberlandt and Heinin 1894. After several years of collecting, the museumwas first opened in 1898 in the main hall of the ViennaStock Exchange on the Ringstraße, where it remaineduntil 1917, though there was little space for the museumpieces. Towards the end of the First World War, themuseum was transferred to the Josefstädter SchönbornGarden Palace in the Laudongasse, a palace which hadbeen due for demolition but was made available by thecity authorities to house the museum. The sumptuousbaroque mid- section of the former aristocratic summerpalace which faces the street was built from designs byJohann Lukas Hildebrandt between 1706 and 1711, alongwith the section overlooking the park that gives themuseum the character it has today.

The museum was initially conceived toserve the entire" Cisleithanic” territory, meaning theAustrian side of the Leitha River which separated Austriafrom Hungary(" Transleithanic" refers to the Hungarianhalf of the imperial territory). With the exception of theregions of the Dual Monarchy united under theHungarian crown, the museum items were gathered fromall parts of the empire. Through extensive expeditions,and with the help of local agents, material was collectedfrom Vorarlberg to East Galicia, and from north Bohemia

7