8❘ Experience: Heimat

and Society

In 1928 Robert Mucnjak, the restorer at the museum, foundedthe Österreichische Heimatgesellschaft( Austrian HeimatSociety), an association for folk culture. The following yearhe launched the magazine Heimatland. Both projects wereclosely coordinated with the work of the museum and aimedto promote' folk life' and' folk art'.

From its early days, the Heimat Society worked with otherViennese associations and institutions interested in Heimat.Together they came up with popular educational formats' suited to the city' and often made use of new forms of en-tertainment media. By 1934, the Heimat Society had becomeso firmly entrenched that it became the official umbrellaorganisation for the traditional clubs of the Social Democratsand the National Socialists, both of which were now banned.In 1939 it was disbanded and was willingly absorbed into theNazi leisure organisation' Strength Through Joy'.

Folk Culture as Museum Practice

The Heimat Society was largely responsible for the variedprogramme of folk culture on offer at the museum in the1930s. This opened the museum up to an interested urbanpublic, attracting both socialist, working- class wearers oftraditional costume and groups with a more German- nation-alist, or völkisch, outlook such as the Deutscher SchulvereinSüdmark and groups coming out of the youth movement.

Folk

song and folk dance events put on by the Heimat Society