Styrian Folk Life Museum

The Styrian Folklore Museum in Graz is a small museum that focuses on processing and documenting the folk culture of Styria.

The museum originated from a modest assortment of folklore artifacts that were gathered by the Landesmuseum Joanneum starting in 1895.The folklore museum in Paulustorgasse was founded by Viktor Geramb in 1913. It showcased various exhibits.At that time, Geramb’s museum concept envisioned integrating the exhibits into a self-contained environment.Therefore, he meticulously crafted each individual room to be a complete masterpiece. He had several notable achievements, including:

• The museum set up a “smoke room” from a farm in the Packalpe, which has been in use since 1520, in 1914.
• “Trachtensaal”: There are 42 life-size figures that showcase the traditional costumes of Styria, spanning from Roman times all the way to the early 20th century.The room was built in the 1930s.

The museum closed in 1989 to facilitate the required renovations on the building.However, construction work did not begin until 2001 and was not completed until May 2003, primarily due to challenges related to financing.The newly designed museum prioritizes the presentation of the actual exhibits, with the building and premises themselves featuring sober, white-furnished rooms.

The folk culture of Styria is showcased in three primary regions:

• Housing: The development since the late Middle Ages is depicted through furnishings, tools, models, and pictures of houses belonging to the rural and middle-class population.
• Dress: The evolution of Styrian costumes can be traced from ancient Roman times to the contemporary trends of modern costumes.
• Faith: This presentation explores the evolution of religious and secular rituals and paraphernalia throughout history.