After a few months off (that turned into almost four years), I've got back into the swing of things....
After a few months off (that turned into almost four years), I've got back into the swing of things... concentrating mostly on travel reviews this time around.
Member since:28.07.2000
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I stumbled across this place by accident on a recent trip to Vienna - taking a stroll down the Mariahilferstrasse, one of the main shopping streets in the Austrian capital, the sign for the ‘Foltermuseum’ (Museum of Torture) caught my eye. It is situated on Fritz-Grünbaum-Platz, pretty much in the heart of the city, ideally placed to spend an hour or two if you fancy a brief respite from trekking around the shops that abound in this area.
It seems pretty unassuming from the outside, the signs direct you to the entrance, on the edge of a pretty scabby-looking city park - there are a few benches and bushes around a small grassy area, overlooked by the towering concrete construction that is the 'Haus des Meeres'. The signs for the museum point visitors downward, into another concrete building and you take your first steps through a cloud of flies, warily entering the slightly fetid and gloomy stairwell. I'm assuming that the flies weren't there for effect, they were just a result of the dark and moist conditions on this late summer afternoon... but they do add a little to the atmosphere that the place is trying
to achieve!
It transpires that this stairway leads you down into the reception area, and you are greeted by the sight of a set of stocks, which you are free to play with if you so desire. The staff on reception are friendly (and speak English, which is always handy) and provide you with a bit of background information about the history of the building itself. It was originally constructed to provide shelter for the citizens of Vienna from Allied air raids in World War Two, and survived intact.
Part of the museum is given over to a brief history of bunkers of this sort, allowing you access to the technical rooms that still control the air-conditioning systems, and to reconstruction rooms that attempt to recreate what it was like to be cooped up in the bunker with hundreds of other people, using sounds, pictures and period items. The information leaflets for this section are available in both German and English.
There is also a room devoted to the cooperation that the museum enjoys with Amnesty International, detailing the plight of child soldiers in various countries across the globe, and the measures that are being taken by charitable organisations such as Amnesty to rescue those involved. Unfortunately for non-German speakers, the posters in this room are only in German, but staff are happy to provide you with printed transcripts of the various German-language exhibit descriptions that are pinned on the walls in the main section of the museum.
This main section is what the museum is all about really, dealing with medieval legal history in general, and the methods of torture that were employed in this legal system in particular. This is done in semi-darkness, using a series of large-scale dioramas that show criminals and innocent victims of medieval ‘justice’ in various poses of agony and suffering. Each exhibit is accompanied by an illuminated description on the wall, telling visitors just what ducking stools, cages, and metal ‘pears’ were used for, and why. There are also framed contemporary prints and woodcuts, to show that there were records of the various methods of torture being put to use in modern-day Austria, and elsewhere.
Where possible, parts of original items have been used in the creation of the exhibits, and there is a selection of original implements on display at the back of the bunker – these tend to be the metal items that have not really degraded or decomposed over the years, and their purpose is generally pretty clear.
Once you’ve taken a stroll past the displays and had your fill of the depictions of painful and frequently unjust torture and violence, you can sit a few feet from a full-size replica of a guillotine and watch a short film by Amnesty International, which deals with the problem of government-sponsored torture in various countries, a practice which is often ignored but still continues to this day.
All in all, this is a decent museum, with enough information to keep you interested, but I was left with the feeling that there is much unexplored potential there. Perhaps it is a lack of focus (trying to find space in a restricted area for the history of the bunker and the plight of child soldiers, as well as the main exhibition), coupled with a lack of actual historical exhibits, but the dioramas, while obviously the result of much painstaking work, do pale after a while. An example of how to do it right is the Museo della Tortura in Milan – more exhibits, more space, and generally more professional presentation.
That said, there is plenty to see, the price is reasonable (entrance costs €6 for adults and part of that fee goes to a worthy cause in the shape of Amnesty International) and it is worth a look. There are worse ways to spend an hour or two if you’re at a loose end, but I’d still be tempted to go for a Viennese Eiskaffee instead…
Foltermuseum Wien Fritz-Grünbaum-Platz 1 A-1060 Wien Tel.: ++43 (0)1/ 585 7185
Opening hours: 10am-6pm daily
Nearest U-Bahn: U3 Neubaugasse
http://www.folter.at/index.html (German only)
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