Exhibitions presented by the Austrian Mint

In this area you can find a list of all exhibitions presented by the Austrian Mint up to now. It is also possible to download the catalogues in English language (if available).

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List of exhibition

The Federal Railways

15th September 2009 till 5th February 2010.
The end of the Habsburg Monarchy meant not only great social and political changes, it also
affected the whole railway system. The “bread basket of the nation”, Bohemia and Moravia,
with their dense and profitable railways network, was now a foreign state. The new Austria had extensive and expensive alpine railways to maintain with now relatively little traffic. At the same time the republic was dependent on coal imported from the now Czechoslovakia. Coal supplies had been a problem in the war years too, and the Monarchy had prepared plans for the electrification of the railways. The South Railway was now divided with Italy and Yugoslavia. From 1924 it was run by the federal railways, but it was the West Railway that now assumed the
most important place. The Austrian Mint invites you to continue the journey begun in 2008 through the world of the Austrian railways. As of 15th September, 2009, it is time to change trains from the old imperial
state railways to those of the BBÖ and the ÖBB as well as the Austrian branch lines in the next
exhibition of the AUSTRIAN MINT.

Duty & Honour

3rd March - 14th August 2009
Pictures, historical documents as well as objects from the period will relate Franz Joseph’s efforts to hold his multi-national realm together against the rising tide of nationalism. In contrast to Bismarck’s “Realpolitik” practised the Emperor and his ministers a foreign policy dictated by a sense of duty and honour. Early experience taught Franz Joseph how uncertain recourse to arms was, that wars drained the treasury and inflicted widespread suffering. He would go to war only when he was convinced that honour and the existence of the Danube Monarchy itself made it imperative. Austria faced a number of dangerous opponents in Europe: the ambitious France of Napoleon III, a ruthless Prussia under the Iron Chancellor, a tumultuous Italy under the House of Savoy, an expansionist czarist Russia and an extremely unstable Balkans. Added to these dangers were internal problems with Hungary and Bohemia. Despite often conflicting advice from his ministers and generals, Franz Joseph did his best to steer the Austrian ship of state through the stormy waters of the 19th century – only to experience shipwreck in the end in 1914. The blame for the catastrophe of the First World War, however, must be laid at many different doors.

(8 MB)

Austrian Railways

9th September 2008 - 6th February 2009
The harnessing of steam power at the end of the 18th century led to a revolution in land transport. The first commercially successful steam locomotives were constructed by George Stephenson in England. It was not till 1836 that Emperor Ferdinand I. of Austria
authorised the building of a railway from Vienna north to the coalfields of Moravia and Bohemia. The Emperor Ferdinand North Railway was opened on 19th November, 1837, and an exciting new age dawned for travel in the Habsburg Monarchy. The new exhibition will trace this story of rapid expansion in the Age of Railways up to the end of the Monarchy in 1918. Visitors will get a first class trip through one of the greatest and most romantic chapters in our modern history.

(1,5 MB)

The Great Abbeys of Austria

26. February 2008 - 14. August 2008
Austria is truly a land of monasteries, convents and great abbeys, which have formed the history and culture of this land down the centuries. Parallel to our coin programme, we showcase six great abbeys of Austria, their founding, history, treasures and work today. Each of these great religious houses has contributed from their own store of treasures to make this presentation not only valuable but unique. Each of these abbeys have museums which welcome visitors interested in their stories and activities. (The convent of Nonnberg forms an exception, since the Benedictine nuns live in strict enclosure. But their church is open to visitors.)

(8 MB)

From Miramar to Mexico

10. September 2007 - 1. February 2008
On 14th April, 1864, Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian sailed on board S.M.S. “Novara” as Emperor Maximilian of Mexico towards new horizons. The journey began at his castle of Miramar on the Adriatic, where he had lived since 1859. Despite all warnings, Maximilian accepted the Crown of Mexico and sailed for his new realm with the very best of intentions. On 19th June, 1967, a Mexican execution squad put an end to his dreams and his life. The fate of Emperor Maximilian was the subject of our very first exhibition 10 years ago. For the 140th anniversary of his death, the Austrian Mint wants to repeat this exhibition with more and new articles and documents, and the latest findings of historical research.

(6 MB)

Viribus Unitis

26. February 2007 - 17. August 2007
“Mit vereinten Kräften – Viribus unitis” (with united strength) was the motto of the Emperor Franz Joseph and aptly describes his main political goal: the preservation of his multi-national empire. This second exhibition on the Emperor Franz Joseph examines his involvement in the domestic politics of his realm from the Revolution of 1848 to the outbreak of the First World War. He saw himself as an integrating head of state, as Emperor by the Grace of God, but also as the first servant of the state, the first of his government officials. Loyalty, duty and honour were the hallmarks of Franz Joseph’s concept of his “high office”. The third exhibition (in 2008) will deal with foreign policy.

(2,5 MB)

Vienna Jugendstil

22. August 2006 - 2. February 2007
This exhibition should provide an overview of the school of art known as the “Vienna Jugendstil” which paralleled the French “arte nouveau”. The Jugendstil always produced integrated works of art; that is, they would design a building, design its interior, its decoration, its fittings, even its furnishings. The whole was a complete work of Jugendstil art. Their artists worked as painters, sculptures, designers, architects, producing not only great paintings like Klimt’s works or buildings like those of Otto Wagner, but also glassware, furniture, fabrics and textiles, cutlery, dinner sets, jewellery – just about every facet of contemporary life. Jugendstil is found everywhere in Vienna, but it was exported too around the Monarchy to Budapest and Prague, Trieste and Innsbruck – it was the last distinctive style of the Habsburg Empire – and today it commands high prices among collectors.

(2,8 MB)

Occupation – Emperor

28. March 2006 - 28. July 2006
On a census form Franz Joseph once registered - “Occupation – Emperor”.The new exhibition will try to examine Franz Joseph’s attitude to his high office as well as that of his family and subjects by tracing his private and public lives. Foreign policy and domestic politics will be left to a future exhibition. “Beruf – Kaiser” will examine the man and the monarch who became one of the most loved father-figures to several generations of his multi-national empire. Thanks to his long reign and the exciting times in which he lived, the Emperor Franz Joseph remains one of the best known and most “present” of all Habsburg rulers - even 90 years after his death.

(4 MB)

Land in Sicht

17. August 2005 - 3. February 2006
This exhibition is the second resulting from the silver commemorative coin series “Austria on the High Seas”. Using documents, pictures and historical artefacts it
will give a view of the passenger and merchant shipping as well as exploration and scientific missions by both naval and private ships. It will cover everything from the passenger liners of Austrian Lloyd and Austro-Americana to the discovery of Franz
Joseph Land in the Arctic and the circumnavigation of the globe by ships like the S.M.S. Novara and S.M.S. Kaiserin Elisabeth.

(3,6 MB)

Ludwig van Beethoven

1. March 2005 - 22. July 2005
This exhibition will give a glimpse into the life and work of one of the most famous composers of all time. Ludwig van Beethoven, building on the work of his
predecessors went on to revolutionise classical music and aimed to clothe the ideals of his turbulent times in music. His compositions were dominated by works for the piano, the instrument on which he first learned to compose. In 1792 the young Beethoven came to Vienna to study composition under Joseph Haydn, Johann Georg Albrechtsberger and Antonio Saleri. It became his musical homeland. Ludwig van Beethoven enjoyed a great reputation across all Europe, and
fellow musicians and admirers came from far and wide to see and hear the master in Vienna.

(1,5 MB)

Österreich auf Hoher See

17. August 2004 - 4. February 2005
The exhibition provides the background to the silver commemorative series „Austria on the High Seas“, which will be selected highlights from Austria’s
naval history. The exhibition will contain documents, pictures and objects from our naval tradition, ranging from the beginnings to the end of the Danube Monarchy.

(3 MB)

Joseph Haydn

17. February 2004 - 23. July 2004
The exhibition provides a glimpse into the life and work of this great Austrian composer. His works of this incomparable music genius remain among the most famous and popular of the classics. A „Haydn Festival“ takes place every Summer in the Esterhazy Castle in Eisenstadt, where he composed so much of his music. Haydn was the composer of the Imperial Anthem in 1795, the music of which lives on in the anthem of Germany today.

(2,5 MB)

Metternich

12. August 2003 - 23. January 2004
The exhibition gives an insight into the work and life of this famous and often controversial statesman. Prince Clemens Wenzel Lothar Metternich was one of the most important figures in Austria and Europe in the first half of the 19th century. Acclaimed and hated, he influenced the course of European history after the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna. His “Concert of Europe” gave much needed peace and stability to the war-torn continent.

(4,7 MB)

Leopold I.

18. February 2003 - 18. July 2003
The exhibition gives you an overview of the life and work of Emperor Leopold I. The Emperor, personally a „peacekeeper“, was always forced to wage war during his reign. With his victory over the Turks he preserved Europe for Christianity and stopped the advance of the Turkish troops forever.

(4,4 MB)

Hab' die Ehre...

23. July 2002 - 24. January 2003
This exhibition is dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Austrian Distinguished Service Cross. In cooperation with the Austrian Society for the sience of decoration the orders of the Republic are shown with their equivalents from the Austrian Empire.

(1,8 MB)

Klöster im Mittelalter

12. February 2002 - 29. July 2002
This Exhibition attends the 50 Euro Austrian commemorative coin in gold ”Orders and the World“ from the series ”2000 Years Christianity“ issued in March 2002

(2,1 MB)