Description of the attraction
The City Museum of Graz is located in the historic center of this city, in the immediate vicinity of the Schlossberg Castle. The museum was founded back in 1928, when the 800th anniversary of the founding of Graz was celebrated. In 1972, the museum moved to its modern building, the former Kuenberg Palace.
It is worth talking about this old city building separately. Its first stone was laid back in the 16th century - in 1564 an elegant Baroque mansion was erected on this site, which later grew into a spacious castle. Over the centuries, the building was completed and rebuilt. It also changed many owners, mainly representatives of noble families. In the sixties of the XIX century, the brother of the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph, Karl Ludwig, lived here, and in 1861, Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian throne, was born in this castle, whose assassination in 1914 marked the beginning of the First World War.
The palace itself consists of four floors and is exquisitely decorated, especially its main facade, which is distinguished by a small balcony supported by powerful columns. The external decoration of the palace mainly took place at the beginning of the 18th century and is therefore executed in the Baroque style. Unfortunately, the interior of the palace was almost completely destroyed; only recently, ancient frescoes from 1730-1740 were discovered in a separate wing.
As for the museum itself, its main collection is devoted to urban history, starting from the 12th century, but there are also earlier exhibits dating back to ancient times. This exhibition has received the bright name "360GRATZ", built on a play on words. Indeed, the museum shows the all-round development of the city - economic, political, cultural, etc. The exposition is divided into 4 sections - medieval Graz - from 1128 to 1600, Graz of the New Time period - from 1600 to 1809, pre-war Graz - that is, until 1914, and already the modern period of the city's history. It is worth noting the border date - 1809, when the destructive battle of Graz took place, as a result of which Napoleonic troops were able to take the city.
The museum displays a variety of ancient artifacts, many objects of fine art, including portraits of prominent statesmen associated with this city, models of city buildings, national costumes, uniforms, weapons, and much more.
