encouraged people to visit the museum and to get involved,

and the nativity plays and puppet shows it organised capti-vated a wide audience.

Folk Culture in the City

The Heimat Society also had a presence in the city. By draw-ing on the museum's expertise in folk culture, this' eventagency' was able to present itself as an important moverand shaker at the city's big folk culture events. For example,its folk dance and folk music group performed at leadingViennese dance halls and the Heimat Society's functionarieshelped to organise large- scale, city- wide events. In doing so,they played a significant role in popularising politically- con-formist folk culture.

9| Resonance: Nativity Scenes& Parlours

From 1930 onwards, the museum and the Heimat Societyorganised an extremely successful annual exhibition ofnativity scenes. This period saw the nativity scene in generaltake on a new emotional and ideological resonance, withaustrofascist cultural politics turning it into a key object ofAustrian Catholicism. In what was experienced as a period ofcrisis, nativity scenes imbued with a sense of Heimat werethought to give comfort and promote a sense of communitybetween the city and the countryside, old and young, rich

and poor.