The Universalmuseum Joanneum () is a multidisciplinary museum with buildings in several locations in the province of Styria, Austria. It has galleries and collections in many subject areas including archaeology, geology, paleontology, mineralogy, botany, zoology, history, art and folk culture. It is the oldest museum in Austria as well as the largest universal museum in central Europe with over 4.5 million objects in 13 departments and 12 locations in the Styrian cities of Graz, Stainz, Trautenfels, and Wagna (Flavia Solva). To reflect this status and its growth over the last two centuries, as well as to present a more recognizable image internationally, the Landesmuseum Joanneum was officially renamed to Universalmuseum Joanneum on 10 September 2009.
History
The Landesmuseum Joanneum was established in 1811 by Archduke Johann. It was Austria's first museum as well as a center for continuing education and scientific research. Notably, the Coin Cabinet and the mineralogical collection were extensive, private collections belonging to the archduke. They form the heart of the museum's departments in disciplines from both the humanities and the natural sciences. Around this core of collections, some of the best scientists of the era taught and conducted research: Friedrich Mohs developed the Mohs scale of mineral hardness there and Franz Unger, a pioneer in paleobotany, plant physiology, phytotomy and soil science, taught here. In 1864, the Joanneum entered the ranks of the "k.k. technical colleges".
Following the decision to raise the institution into the ranks of imperial colleges, as well as for organizational reasons and the need for more space, the institution was split in 1887. The college became the Graz University of Technology, and the collections of the Joanneum, both scientific and cultural-historical, were combined into the Landesmuseum Joanneum.
The Joanneum show collections occurred in the "Lesliehof" along the Raubergasse in Graz just off the main square. However, the collections soon outgrew the confines of the residence. A new museum building was erected between 1890 and 1895, along the Neutorgasse in Graz directly behind the Lesliehof. This building, designed in the neobaroque style by August Gunold, became the "New Joanneum".
The Joanneum during the Nazi era
After Anschluss with Nazi Germany, Jews were persecuted and their property seized, including the artworks that belonged to Jewish art collectors. Many of these artworks, often seized via the Vugesta Nazi looting organisation, ended up in the possession of museums, including the Universalmuseum Joanneum. In April 1998, the Joanneum was one of the first museums in Austria to set up a working group on "Acquisitions and provisions from Jewish property 1938–1955". According to the official report published by the museum in 2010, in the post-war period, looted cultural assets in the museum remained despite restitution laws. Provenance research was begun and some artworks restituted to the heirs of the Jewish collectors who had been looted.
21st Century
Beginning in 2009, both buildings, as well as the open ground between them, underwent extensive renovation and construction. A new, central, underground entrance and three-story, underground depot adjoining both buildings and the Styrian Provincial Library, which was also part of the original 1811 Joanneum, was constructed creating. During the Joanneum's bicentennial in 2011, in the renovated Neutorgasse building, the Neue Galerie art museum and the multimedia collection opened. Thereafter the Museum of Nature and Science enjoyed a redesign in its original, albeit renovated, location in the Lesliehof.
Until 2003, the Joanneum was governed by the Styrian regional government. In 2003, coinciding with the designation of Graz as the sole European Capital of Culture for that year, the Joanneum was spun off into a GmbH (Limited Liability Company). While the Joanneum gained some autonomy in business, marketing and budgetary decision-making with this move, the Province of Styria remains the successor of Archduke Johann and retains all ownership and property rights to the buildings and collections.