Events

Upcoming events

Conference: The Orient of the Habsburg Monarchy

The conference ‘The Orient of the Habsburg Monarchy’ at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (28 to 30 January 2026) will shed light on the shared history of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire, as well as other countries and cultures labelled as ‘Orient’.

The aim is to provide a better understanding of the long-term impact of these interrelationships. The conference focuses on specific interactions between actors from the Habsburg Monarchy and the ‘Orient’, concentrating on the areas of politics, diplomacy, administration, the military, science and art. More Information here ...

Exhibition: Good Collecting – Bad Collecting

The special exhibition from 28 April 2026 to 27 June 2027 on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Natural History Museum Vienna.

Today, with more than 30 million objects, the museum houses one of the world’s most important natural science collections. The NHM Vienna is a unique archive documenting the origin and development of the Earth and of life. Its 150th anniversary provides the NHM Vienna with an opportunity for a critical reflection on its own history. More Information here ...

Conference: Antiquity and Modern Times - Oriental Studies and Cultural Contacts in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy'

The Egypt and Austria conference will take place from Thursday, 8 October to Saturday, 10 October 2026, at the University of Graz (Styria) and at the Archaeology Museum at Eggenberg Palace (Universalmuseum Joanneum). More Information here ...

Past events

2026

Lecture: Austrian Traces in the Levant – with Special Focus on Maritime Interests

On 22 January 2026, Levant expert Dr. Elmar Samsinger presented a lecture at the Vienna Naval Association (Marineverband Wien), exploring the traces of the Habsburg Monarchy in the Levant More Information here ...

2025

Conference: Austria-Hungary in the global colonial system

The Doctoral School of Historical and Cultural Studies at the University of Vienna and the Collegium Hungaricum are planning a joint two-day conference on Austria-Hungary's colonial-historical past for 10 and 11 October 2025. More Information here ...

Collaboration in the name of science?

Lecture by Dominik Spörker on 8 April 2025 at the Weltmuseum Wien on Provenance Research Day. In a research project funded by the BMKÖS, the collections of the Corvette ‘Saida’ are being analysed at the Weltmuseum Wien. The Corvette brought back objects from Africa, Asia, Australia, Oceania and South America from her travels. (More Information here ...)

Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian’s Photo Albums of the Austrian Levant Squadron 1855

Lecture by Mathias Böhm from the Picture Archive of the Austrian National Library on February 27, 2025, at the Naval Association Vienna. In 1855, Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, the eldest brother of the reigning Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, undertook an almost five-month-long sea voyage through the Mediterranean. It was the Archduke’s personal wish that the most innovative photographic institution of the time, the Imperial and Government Printing Establishment, delegate the also 23-year-old Franz Mai to document the journey photographically. The result is a unique series of images, preserved as a collection of loose sheets containing up to 49 photographs. (More Information here ...)

2024

Workshop "Provenance research with a focus on collections of the Imperial Navy of Austria-Hungary

On December 2nd and 3rd 2024 at the Weltmuseum Wien.

Lecture: A critical review of the research voyages of the Habsburg Navy

On 27 June 2024, Dominik Spörker presented a look at the problems of provenance research in modern museum practice using selected examples, at the Naval Association Vienna.