Stadtmuseum St. Pölten

The Stadtmuseum St. Pölten is the municipal museum of St. Pölten, the Lower Austrian state capital.

The town hall museum opened in 1909, after archive papers and historical artefacts had been meticulously inspected since the 1880s.After multiple moves, it was established as the St. Pölten City Museum in 1976 in the specially modified Karmeliterhof, and has subsequently been enlarged and extended several times.

Jakob Prandtauer erected the Karmeliterhof as a Carmelite convent between 1707 and 1712.From 1787 to 1918, it operated as a barracks after Emperor Joseph II disbanded the monastery.The building was restored in phases from 1964 to 1985 and is now utilized by the St. Pölten City Council.The entryway was renovated in 2007 with a glass and steel structure.

The museum is spread over three floors:

On the ground floor is the foyer, the archeology and a city history tour .
Art Nouveau in St. Pölten and special exhibitions are presented on the first floor
The Lower Austrian Documentation Center for Modern Art is located on the second floor

The archaeological collection includes artifacts from prehistory and early history in the St. Pölten area, as well as the city’s Roman era, when it was known as Aelium Cetium.Some items are depicted using 3D computer models.

The modern city’s urban historical epochs are portrayed in a number of ways, with a concentration on transportation history and industrial history.In terms of architectural history, the Baroque and Art Nouveau periods are notably highlighted.

Art Nouveau arrived in the city with a boom.In 1899, none other than the architect of the Vienna Secession, Joseph Maria Olbrich, erected a residence for the doctor Hermann Stöhr at Kremser Gasse 41 that exemplified the new style.The sculptural structure protrudes above the ground level and is decorated with flowery plaster, metalwork, and stained glass windows.While some residents applauded the development, others mocked it as the Chinese Legation’s residence.

Aside from Art Nouveau architecture, the museum has works by Charlotte Andri-Hampel, Ferdinand Andri, Ernst Stöhr, Hans Ofner, and Joseph Maria Olbrich.Some of these images have recently been shown in exhibits in Vienna, Salzburg, Milan, Montreal, Paris, and The Hague.The biographies of the artists are shown on display boards.

St. Pölten, Austria