This text is an excerpt from the article Object Restoration with Financial Support from the Museumsfreunde published in Nachrichten. Volkskundemuseum Wien, issue 4/2025.
Rain cloak made of lime bast
The rain cloak is made from narrow strips of lime bast of varying lengths. These were folded around a cotton ribbon and secured in bundles with a cord braided through them.
Rain cloaks made of bast, grasses or reeds were widely used in the Alpine region for outdoor work – especially for herding – well into the 20th century. The surface of the bast or leaves repelled water effectively, and textile rain capes or coats were expensive. Although such cloaks were once commonplace, very few have survived in museum collections, most likely due to the impermanent nature of the material. The exact age of the bast cloak held in the collections of the Volkskundemuseum Wien is unknown. It was purchased in 1909 by Wilhelm Tschinkel, a teacher and folklorist active in the Gottschee region, Slovenia and Carinthia. From 1994 until late 2023, the rain cloak was displayed in the permanent exhibition of the Volkskundemuseum Wien as a so-called ‚grass cloak‘. Accordingly, the material had become faded, brittle, fragile and highly vulnerable. In 2025, the cloak was gently and contact-free cleaned using laser technology. The treatment proceeded from the outside inwards, beginning with the front surfaces and followed by the reverse sides of the bast strips. After laser cleaning, the strips were carefully repositioned in their original alignment. The restoration prevents further deterioration and preserves this unique testimony to past Alpine living conditions for the future.
Kathrin Pallestrang, Textile and Clothing Collection, and Elisabeth Egger, Online Collection Plus
Note: According to recent findings, ÖMV/22354 was made of lime bast strips. The text has been revised accordingly.
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ÖMV/22354: Rain cloak made of lime bast
Floor plans from the history of the Gartenpalais Schönborn
The archives of the Volkskundemuseum Wien preserve a set of plans documenting the relocation of the museum from its premises in the Börse am Ring to the Gartenpalais Schönborn between 1917 and 1920 (official opening: 26 June 1920). The material includes inventory plans (ground floor and first floor), plans with the architectural alterations drawn in, and so-called ‚account plans‘, which are accompanied by a detailed handwritten construction logbook. This documentation was also consulted for the recent architectural survey undertaken for the general renovation. In addition, the set contains floor plans for the then-new permanent exhibition, including markings for showcases, lighting and even elements of the visitor routing. Two plans were selected for restoration: one showing the architectural alterations on the ground floor, and another furnishing plan for the first floor. Both were heavily worn and torn along the folds. Old adhesive repairs were present but had mostly failed.
Elisabeth Egger, Archive
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A rarity and a gap filled in the Photo Collection
The daguerreotype (pos/66628) – a photograph on a copper plate, each image a unique object – was produced around 1850 in the studio of the renowned New York photographer Martin M. Lawrence (1808–1859). It shows the portrait of an unknown man and counts as the oldest object in our photographic collection. It captivates audiences on every guided tour and also marks the beginning of photographic history. The cover glass of the quarter plate (10.5 × 8 cm) was severely affected by so-called ‚glass disease‘, posing a threat to the image. In addition, the absence of a case meant that dust and airborne pollutants could enter without hindrance. During restoration and conservation in 2025, the cover glass was replaced, the brass mat was cleaned, and openings along the edges were sealed. Three glass plates (dia/702, dia/703 and neg/54) by the ethnographer Eugenie Goldstern (1883/4–1942) were also restored. These photographs of rural architecture in the Salzburg region, taken in 1915 and 1918 – an Alpine hut, a farmstead and a drying hut – were partly severely damaged. For one slide only the broken cover glass required replacement; for the other two, fractures in the image plates necessitated encapsulation in a protective glass enclosure. As a result, the entirety of the Goldstern holdings at the Volkskundemuseum has now been secured – an important testament to her research and another modest tribute to the scholar persecuted and murdered under National Socialism.
Astrid Hammer, Photo Collection
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pos/66628: Positive: Portrait of a young man
dia/702: Slide: Alpine hut on the Tennalpe, municipality of Abtenau, Salzburg
dia/703: Slide: Turnerhof, Radochsberg, municipality of Abtenau, Salzburg
neg/54: Negative: Drying hut, Tennengau, Salzburg
Two objects from the Ceramics Collection
For the museum’s founders, ceramics from Moravia represented a central collecting focus, which is why the Volkskundemuseum Wien today holds an important collection of Moravian faience. What is unusual about the present writing set with watch holder (ÖMV/12340) is its multifunctionality. It resembles a small chest of drawers consisting of a drawer combined with a fully modelled upper section designed to hold a pocket watch. The drawer likely served to store quills, and the round mounts were intended to hold the now-missing ink and pounce inserts. The object shows a complex break. The restoration will once again make its distinctive features and remarkable functions visible and comprehensible to the public.
The jug (ÖMV/36027), featuring a central motif of a potter at the wheel, is of cultural-historical importance: it offers a rare insight into the working environment of this essential craft, depicting key tools of the trade. Moreover, this Baroque-period jug is an early example of Salzburg faience. The date above the potter refers to the year 1741. The object was restored unprofessionally at an unknown point in time. The corresponding areas showed yellowed repairs, and part of the glaze had flaked off.
Claudia Peschel-Wacha, Ceramics collection
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ÖMV/12340: Writing set with watch holder
‚Pelbartus‘ – the oldest work in the library of the Volkskundemuseum Wien
This printed work from 1505 (shelfmark 10317 N:10) shows age-related wear from use, including soiling, tears, losses and the deterioration of the movable parts of the clasps. In addition, the volume suffered water damage long ago. The resulting mould infestation severely affected both the paper and the binding. The work Sermones pomerii de sanctis Hyemales et Estiuales by Pelbartus de Themesvar (1435–1504), is a classic of sermon literature. This early print is not only the oldest work in the library’s holdings, but also part of two significant collection contexts: first, it stems from the scholarly library of Albert Wesselski (1871–1939), a respected specialist in narratology. Second, the book later entered the numbering system of the so-called ‚Mythenbibliothek‘, an internally coherent collection of around 1,700 volumes acquired in 1946 and currently undergoing retrospective cataloguing and provenance research.
Marlene Schütze, Library
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10317 N:10: Sermones pomerii de sanctis Hyemales et Estiuales
We sincerely thank the Association of the Friends of the Art History Museums (Museumsfreunde) for their collaboration and especially for their generous support in preserving the selected museum objects.