Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Preface
- Introduction: Presenting the Romans – Issues and Approaches to Interpretation
- 1 Tradition and Innovation: Creating a New Handbook to the Roman Wall
- 2 Re-enactment and Living History – Issues about Authenticity
- 3 Reconstruction Drawings: Illustrating the Evidence
- 4 Images from the Past: Fibulae as Evidence for the Architectural Appearance of Roman Fort Gates
- 5 Multimedia Interpretation Techniques for Reconstructing the Roman Past at the Limes Museum in Aalen and at the Limes in Baden-Württemberg
- 6 Vindonissa: Changing Presentations of a Roman Legionary Fortress
- 7 Bringing to Life the Ancient City of Viminacium on the Danube
- 8 An International View of Reconstruction
- 9 A Roman Museum for Vienna
- 10 Woerden – Hoochwoert (Dutch Limes): Showing the Invisible
- 11 Mainlimes Mobil: Presenting Archaeology and Museums with the Help of Smartphones
- 12 Voices from the Past: Presenting (re)Constructed Environments through Multimedia Technologies
- 13 Digital Reconstruction and the Public Interpretation of Frontiers
- 14 Information, Disinformation and Downright Lies: Portraying the Romans
- 15 Romanes eunt Domus?
- 16 The Living Frontier: the Passing of Time on Hadrian's Wall
- 17 The Hadrian's Wall Interpretation Framework: Audience Research
- 18 The Hadrian's Wall Interpretation Framework
- 19 Applying the Hadrian's Wall Interpretation Framework
- List of Contributors
- Index
- Heritage Matters
9 - A Roman Museum for Vienna
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Preface
- Introduction: Presenting the Romans – Issues and Approaches to Interpretation
- 1 Tradition and Innovation: Creating a New Handbook to the Roman Wall
- 2 Re-enactment and Living History – Issues about Authenticity
- 3 Reconstruction Drawings: Illustrating the Evidence
- 4 Images from the Past: Fibulae as Evidence for the Architectural Appearance of Roman Fort Gates
- 5 Multimedia Interpretation Techniques for Reconstructing the Roman Past at the Limes Museum in Aalen and at the Limes in Baden-Württemberg
- 6 Vindonissa: Changing Presentations of a Roman Legionary Fortress
- 7 Bringing to Life the Ancient City of Viminacium on the Danube
- 8 An International View of Reconstruction
- 9 A Roman Museum for Vienna
- 10 Woerden – Hoochwoert (Dutch Limes): Showing the Invisible
- 11 Mainlimes Mobil: Presenting Archaeology and Museums with the Help of Smartphones
- 12 Voices from the Past: Presenting (re)Constructed Environments through Multimedia Technologies
- 13 Digital Reconstruction and the Public Interpretation of Frontiers
- 14 Information, Disinformation and Downright Lies: Portraying the Romans
- 15 Romanes eunt Domus?
- 16 The Living Frontier: the Passing of Time on Hadrian's Wall
- 17 The Hadrian's Wall Interpretation Framework: Audience Research
- 18 The Hadrian's Wall Interpretation Framework
- 19 Applying the Hadrian's Wall Interpretation Framework
- List of Contributors
- Index
- Heritage Matters
Summary
Introduction
Until very recently, Vienna's best preserved Roman remains were difficult for visitors to find. The roman ruins, as this Wien Museum site was called, are six feet below ground, directly underneath the Hoher Markt square. The remains were discovered in 1948 during work on the city sewers and comprise remnants of officers' houses. Two inconspicuous city council signs pointed the way through a restaurant to reach stairs that led down to the excavations.
Despite poor signage, approximately 15,000 visitors found their way to the museum each year. An outing to the museum is a fixed date in the schedule for Vienna's schools whenever it comes to the romans' turn in the curriculum. However, access around the remains was so narrow that a modern approach to presenting the remains of Roman Vindobona was impossible. For pupils and teachers, who account for more than half of all visitors, the absence of any visitor infrastructure (especially toilets) was a major inconvenience. Acknowledgment of this problem was a catalyst for the train of events that led to the opening of a new Roman Museum in early May 2008.
When it became known in spring 2007 that the premises above the excavations would be available to let, the Wien Museum management team seized the opportunity to modify the building and implement a state-of-the-art museum concept. Families, those interested in Vienna's history and tourists were all identified, alongside school children, as key target audiences.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Presenting the RomansInterpreting the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site, pp. 85 - 92Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2013