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Papers by Josef Muhsil-Schamall
Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien, Serie A, 124, 2023
Official lodgings from the 19th century are hardly preserved today. Thanks to lucky circumstances... more Official lodgings from the 19th century are hardly preserved today. Thanks to lucky circumstances and to the wise foresight of Hans Strouhal (from 1951 to 1963 first director of the NHMW), large parts of the first directors’ apartment in the Natural History Museum Vienna have been preserved. In some rooms, not only the historic murals but also wallpapers and interior elements such as lamps and cabinets have been preserved. Some rooms in today’s fish collections were used con- tinuously as apartment until the end of 1919. The combination of room design, painting, wallpa- pers and interior still visible there can rightly be considered a unique historical document of fin de siècle design and work life. Investigative uncoverings in 2021 have revealed that murals which were thought to have been lost are still hidden, largely intact, under modern white wall paint. The preserved rooms as well as the uncoverings allow a glimpse into the now almost forgotten living and working culture of the Viennese upper middle classes and their home design preferences. In addition, a graphic reconstruction of the “grand salon” provides for the first time a hypothetical glimpse into the planning of the NHMW’s first director, Ferdinand von Hochstetter.
unclaimed by Josef Muhsil-Schamall
Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien, Serie A, 124, 2023
Official lodgings from the 19th century are hardly preserved today. Thanks to lucky circumstances... more Official lodgings from the 19th century are hardly preserved today. Thanks to lucky circumstances and to the wise foresight of Hans Strouhal (from 1951 to 1963 first director of the NHMW), large parts of the first directors’ apartment in the Natural History Museum Vienna have been preserved. In some rooms, not only the historic murals but also wallpapers and interior elements such as lamps and cabinets have been preserved. Some rooms in today’s fish collections were used con- tinuously as apartment until the end of 1919. The combination of room design, painting, wallpa- pers and interior still visible there can rightly be considered a unique historical document of fin de siècle design and work life. Investigative uncoverings in 2021 have revealed that murals which were thought to have been lost are still hidden, largely intact, under modern white wall paint. The preserved rooms as well as the uncoverings allow a glimpse into the now almost forgotten living and working culture of the Viennese upper middle classes and their home design preferences. In addition, a graphic reconstruction of the “grand salon” provides for the first time a hypothetical glimpse into the planning of the NHMW’s first director, Ferdinand von Hochstetter.