It is our great pleasure to announce the accession of another new member, joining the ICARUS community in 2025:
The Graz Museum, together with the Graz Museum Schlossberg and Urban Archaeology Graz, and the Municipal Archives Graz, form a single organizational unit under the umbrella of Stadtmuseum Graz GmbH. Both institutions have existed since 1928 and collectively employ more than 50 staff members. International networking and digital working practices are integral to the team’s activities.
The Graz Museums hold over 100,000 objects in their collections, ranging from the Middle Ages to the present day. In addition, they curate several tens of thousands of archaeological finds, primarily dating from the 19th and 20th centuries.
The Graz Municipal Archive preserves 6,700 linear meters of records from 1720 to the present. These holdings consist mainly of administrative documents and official publications, complemented by a growing body of materials from private governance. Since 2025, the Municipal Archive have also operated a Digital Archive as part of the Austrian DIMAG network.
Digital museum and archive practices are of great importance to the institutions. The teams have been working with museum and archive databases for decades; these systems have been accessible via a web interface since 2017 in the archive and from 2026 in the museum. The museum has developed a range of digital platforms, such as the online postcard collection; “Becoming Urban”, a research project illustrating urbanization of Graz in the 19th century and the digital version of the permanent exhibition ”360 Graz. A Story of Graz”.
Within the archive, the “Citizen Archive Platform” was developed as part of the Creative Europe project “Dialog City”. This platform enables the transfer of personal digital data in compliance with the OAIS-standard to a cultural heritage institution. Since 2019, the Graz Museum has also operated the “Topothek Graz”, a collaboratively created and curated online collection, comprising various digital loan objects, stories and memories related to the city of Graz.
Director Sibylle Dienesch comments on the digital strategy and the future cooperation within ICARUS: “Digitality is of great importance to us. We are delighted to be part of the ICARUS network, where we aim to contribute our museum and archival expertise.”
The addition of the Graz Museum and Municipal Archive is of great importance for ICARUS, especially considering the vast expertise of the team in dealing with digital exhibitions and storytelling and digital archiving!