About us
On the way to the democratic museum and archive
How can we bring the vision of a democratic city museum and city archive to life, think further and implement it? What potential of the institution can be used for this and what skills need to be acquired for this? What new and expanded role does the institution then take on in the city?
The Graz Museum and the Graz City Archives have been working on a 5-year, holistic process of democratization since January 2023 and would like to become a democracy generator themselves. Our goal is to become a central place for social negotiations and a participatory culture of discourse and thus contribute to social cohesion in the city of Graz.
In terms of content, the respective annual themes are central and are selected in a participatory process together with all employees. They are oriented towards socio-cultural issues of the present in relation to the city and look at the respective topic in the 3 time dimensions of past – present – future: what has happened, negotiating what this means for the present and how this changes allows one to imagine the future (Nora Sternfeld).
The History of the Graz Museum
The Years of Establishment and Travel
In 1928, the Stadtmuseum was founded by the municipality of Graz, the Landesmuseum Joanneum, the University of Graz, the Graz University of Technology, and the Styrian State Archive as a historical museum of the city of Graz on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the first documented reference to the city of Graz. As late as ten years after it had been established—the items of the collection had been boxed in inadequate depots or had been placed in rooms of the town hall—, the museum was provided with exhibition rooms in the Palais Attems, Sackstraße 17. In 1951, it became a part of the Landesmuseum Joanneum and moved to Schloss Eggenberg but it returned to the city centre and into the ownership of the municipality in 1969. The exhibits of that time were historical objects and works of art owned by the municipality; over time, they were complemented by acquisitions and donations.
Permanent Residence in the Palais Khuenburg
After provisional solutions that had lasted for 44 years, the Stadtmuseum finally found its permanent residence in the Palais Khuenburg, Sackstraße 18, in 1972. There, efforts were made, beside comprehensively communicating the history of the city—building on the collection on display, which was opened in 1982—to resume the until then rather modest collecting activity. From 1995 to 1997, the museum was modernised under the leadership of Dr. Gerhard M. Dienes, who managed this institution for 15 years. Moreover, it shifted its focus towards a programme of special exhibitions—with shows such as “Wasser“ (Water), “trans lokal. Neun Städte im Netz“ (trans local. Nine Cities in the Network), and “Die Gesetze des Vaters“ (The Laws of the Father).
Ownership
In 2005, the museum was outsourced from the municipal administration under the leadership of Otto Hochreiter and has operated as Stadtmuseum Graz GmbH since then. Yet, the institution has also remained a hundred percent in the sole ownership of the City of Graz after it was outsourced. Dr. Günter Riegler is the City Councillor. Since January 2023, Sibylle Dienesch has been managing the Stadtmuseum Graz GmbH.
European Museum of the Year Award 2023 Special Commendation
The former Stadtmuseum Graz turned into the stadtmuseumgraz, and into the Graz Museum from the autumn of 2012 onwards, an exhibition venue which attracted plenty of attention on a supra-regional level and was nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award 2014 with its permanent exhibition “360GRAZ | Die Stadt von allen Zeiten” (The City in All Times | from All Perspectives).
The Graz Museum Schlossberg was the only museum in Austria to receive a Special Commendation as part of the European Museum of the Year Award 2023.
Austrian Museum Prize 2024
In 2024 the Graz Museum will receive the Austrian Museum Prize, which is awarded annually by the BMKÖS Museum Advisory Board for outstanding achievements in the field of museum work.
Excerpt from the jury’s statement: “The Graz Museum ambitiously negotiates current topics in (civil) society in a contemporary discourse between art, urbanism, science and storytelling. The Graz Museum, which is also responsible for the Graz city archives and a branch on the Schlossberg, has recently consciously opened itself up to the outside world.
The Graz Museum shows courage for controversial topics and is consciously actively involved in the city. The content spans the story of the city’s history in the permanent exhibition ‘360 Graz. A History of the City’ to special exhibitions that are organized into annual themes. Examples of this include the exhibitions ‘Jewish Life in Graz’ (2022), ‘Protest! In Graz from 1945 to today’ (2023) and the current show ‘Habitat Graz’ as part of the annual theme City Nature (2024).”
The Team
Management
Mag. Stefanie Plut, M.A.I.S.
Assistant of the Management
stefanie.plut@stadt.graz.at
+43 316 872-7618
Adrienn Csiszar
Commercial assistant
adrienn.csiszar@stadt.graz.at
+43 316 872-7615
Margitta Glawogger
Accountant
margitta.glawogger@stadt.graz.at
+43 316 872-7615
Marketing & Communication
Mag. Martina Pock, M.A.
Marketing & Public Relations
martina.pock@stadt.graz.at
+43 664 608727616
Vanessa Bednarek, BA MA
Social Media
vanessa.bednarek@stadt.graz.at
+43 664 88530489
Management Graz Museum Schlossberg
Dr.in Brigitte Schuchlenz
Location Management Graz Museum Schlossberg
brigitte.schuchlenz@stadt.graz.at
+43 664 60 872 7630
Digital Museum Practice
Exhibitions
Mag. Dr. Bernhard Bachinger
Head of Exhibitions, Curator
bernhard.bachinger@stadt.graz.at
+43 664 608727602
Vanessa Bednarek, BA MA
Exhibition assistant
vanessa.bednarek@stadt.graz.at
+43 664 88530489
Catalin Betz, MA
Curator exhhibitions
catalin.betz@stadt.graz.at
+43 664 611 5862
Daniela Brasil, PhD MFA
Curator Exhibitions
daniela.brasil@stadt.graz.at
+43 664 8885 3869
Ogül Büber-Ottitsch, MA MSc
Exhibition Assistant
oguel.bueber-ottitsch@stadt.graz.at
+43 664 7801 8730
Mag. Annette Rainer
Curator Exhibitions
annette.rainer@stadt.graz.at
+43 664608727611
Cultural Education & Visitor Services
Mag. Annette Rainer
Head of Cultural Education and Visitor Services
annette.rainer@stadt.graz.at
+43 664608727611
Dina Ahmed, BA
Cultural Education and Visitor Services
dina.ahmed@stadt.graz.at
Dominik Augustinović
Cultural Education and Visitor Services
dominik.augustinovic@stadt.graz.at
+43 664 886 900 16
Mag. Karoline Boehm
Cultural Education and Visitor Services
karoline.boehm@stadt.graz.at
+43 316 872-7614
Silke Essinger
Cultural Education and Visitor Services
silke.essinger@stadt.graz.at
Evangelos Evangelinidis, MA MA
Cultural Education and Visitor Services
evangelos.evangelinidis@stadt.graz.at
Mag. Angela F, MA
Cultural Education and Visitor Services
angela.fink@stadt.graz.at
+43 664 88840 642
Samuel Matthew Hefty, BA
Cultural Education and Visitor Services
samuelmatthew.hefty@stadt.graz.at
Caterina Lazzarin BA MA
Cultural Education and Visitor Services
caterina.lazzarin@stadt.graz.at
Maximilian Linser, MA
Cultural Education and Visitor Services
maximilian.linser@stadt.graz.at
MMag.a Brigitte Platzer
Cultural Education and Visitor Services
brigitte.platzer@stadt.graz.at
Stefanie Pöschl, BA
Cultural Education and Visitor Services
stefanie.poeschl@stadt.graz.at
Christina Rajković, MA MA BA BA
Cultural Education and Visitor Services
christina.rajkovic@stadt.graz.at
on maternity leave
Dominik Rath, BA
Cultural Education and Visitor Services
dominik.rath@stadt.graz.at
Nikita Reichelt, MSc
Cultural Education and Visitor Services
maximilian.linser@stadt.graz.at
Katharina Sauer, BA MA
Cultural Education and Visitor Services
katharina.sauer@stadt.graz.at
Claire Scariot, MA
Cultural Education and Visitor Services
claire.scariot@stadt.graz.at
Christoph Schaffer
Cultural Education and Visitor Services
christoph.schaffer@stadt.graz.at
Dr. Brigitte Schuchlenz
Cultural Education
brigitte.schuchlenz@stadt.graz.at
+43 664 60 872 7630
Maria Shtayn
Cultural Education and Visitor Services
maria.shtayn@stadt.graz.at
Mag. Robert Tendl
Cultural Education and Visitor Services
robert.tendl@stadt.graz.at
Collections
Dr. Wolfram Dornik
Head of Collections
wolfram.dornik@stadt.graz.at
+43 664608727626
MMag. Elisabeth Berger
Provenance research and collection data management
elisabeth.berger@stadt.graz.at
Thomas Harmuth
Research associate
thomas.harmuth@stadt.graz.at
+43 664 888 53 828
Björk Kosir, BA MA
Archeological assistant and software management collections
bjoerk.kosir@stadt.graz.at
Mag. Dr. Susanne Lamm
Head of City archeology
susanne.lamm@stadt.graz.at
+43 664 88853826
Mag. Katharina Mraček-Gabalier, MA
Curator of Collections
Deputy Head of Collections
katharina.gabalier@stadt.graz.at
+43 316 872-7608
Mag. Eva Schantl, MA
Conservator
eva.schantl@stadt.graz.at
+43 664 6115 895
Anna Zelenka, BA BA
Archeological assistant
anna.zelenka@stadt.graz.at
+43 664 8647 074
Municipal Archive
Mag. Dr. Wolfram Dornik
Head of City Archive Graz
wolfram.dornik@stadt.graz.at
+43 664608727626
Gregor-Josef Harler
gregor-josef.harler@stadt.graz.at
+43 316 872-7623
Dipl.-Archivarin (FH) Mag. Tamara Kefer
Registrar
tamara.kefer@stadt.graz.at
+43 316 872-7621
Ferdinand Leisch, BA
User Service | Construction records
ferdinand.leisch@stadt.graz.at
+43 316 872-7621
On maternity leave
Dipl.-Ing. Barbara Meyer, MSc
Employee
barbara.meyer@stadt.graz.at
+43 316 872-7625
Mag. Juliane Maria Nitsch
User service
juliane.nitsch@stadt.graz.at
+43 316 872-7627
Kathrin Pammer
Archive, library and information assistant
kathrin.pammer@stadt.graz.at
+43 316 872-7622
Amelie Rakar, BA MA
Archivist
amelie.rakar@stadt.graz.at
+43 664 88530453
Mag. Peter Schintler
Historical requests
peter.schintler@stadt.graz.at
+43 316 872-7624
Caitlin Staber
Archive, library, information assistant
caitlin.staber@stadt.graz.at
+43 316 872-7629
Kornel Trojan
User Service | Construction records
kornel.trojan@stadt.graz.at
+43 316 872-7628
Tecnical Services
Edin Prnjavorac, BSc
Technical Management
edin.prnjavorac@stadt.graz.at
+43 664 60 872-7606
Herbert Fortin
Member of the technical team
herbert.fortin@stadt.graz.at
+43 664 608 727-609
Cleaning
Doris Köpf
Supervisory Board
Mag.a Edith Zitz
Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board
Christine Braunersreuther, Dipl. Museol. (FH)
Deputy Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board
Mag.a Susanne Bauer
Dr. Martin Moll
Elisabeth Potzinger
Mag. Max Zirngast
Works Council
Thomas Harmuth
Chairman of the works council
Maximilian Linser, MA
Deputy Chairman of the works council
Mag.a Karoline Boehm
Evangelos Evangelinidis, MA MA
Dr. Susanne Lamm
Ferdinand Leisch, BA