In the spring of 2024, the world of Austrian culture celebrated a significant milestone. With the new instatement of the Kulturpool at the Natural History Museum of Vienna (NHM Wien), a centralized search portal was created to bring together and make accessible digitized culture heritage for the general public. This ambitious undertaking was part of the Federal Ministry for Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sports (BMWKMS)’ Digital Cultural Heritage Strategy and is being implemented at the NHM Vienna through financing by the EU’s NextGenerationEU fund.

Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler states, “The Kulturpool, as a central search platform and thus an opportunity for academic excellent, is doing pioneering work for the entirely of Austria’s cultural landscape. I am convinced that with this digitizing initiative, we are contributing to ongoing efforts to make cultural heritage accessible and affordable for people far beyond just Austria’s borders.”

Dr. Katrin Vohland, General and Scientific Director of the NHM Vienna, is also confident in the innovative power of the digital search portal, stating, “With the Kulturpool at the NHM Vienna, we are making the diversity of cultural heritage visible on people’s screens. We want to raise awareness that digitalization is not replacing the museum experience, but rather that digital and analogue spaces already wonderfully enrich and complement each other.”

The Kulturpool, in collaboration with the NHM Vienna and BMWKMS, paves the way for the future of multimedia museum work and expands the scope of international cultural heritage. Additionally, through its collaboration with the digital cultural platform Europeana, the Kulturpool joins a comprehensive network of projects which work to provide access to heritage from all across Europe, while also increasing the international visibility of institutions represented through in the Kulturpool. 

To date, the Kulturpool has grown its collections to a total of 1.6 million objects from 100 different institutions. These include major museums such as the Albertina, the Belvedere, as well as the Technisches Museum Wien and the Austrian Media Library, but also smaller regional institutions such as the museumORTH in Lower Austria, the Mining and Gothic Museum in Salzburg, and various other libraries and archives. By the end of 2026, over three million objects are expected to be available on the Kullturpool. Since its relaunch in March of 2024, the website has recorded 43,000 visits and 450,000 clicks, with the average time spent on the site tripling to ten minutes in the past year.

Phillip Fischer, who oversees the digital efforts of NHM Vienna and work on the Kulturpool, states, “We are very pleased that this digitization initiative is being implemented so actively and with such commitment in museums, archives, and libraries.” The Kulturpool acts not only as an aggregator of large-scale data, but also as a space for professional dialogue and cultural exchange. “As a central point for higher excellent and a primary source for digital cultural heritage, we support the digitalization of collections in museums, archives, and libraries, and provide assistance with tackling the multi-faceted tasks involved,” Fischer adds. This is achieved through academic openness and accessibility to knowledge, active and engaged team communication, as well as special events highlighting the value of cultural exchange and dialogue.

“We want to discuss and highlight what the next step must be in the digital cultural heritage sector. Many people are unaware that innovation is built on – and depends on – infrastructure,” explains Dr. Doris Wolfslehner (BJFOI), elaborating on the forum topics, “At the same time, we need to boldly rethink and further development these infrastructures. Above all, we want to inspire people to work with this quality and diverse data. Many exciting projects are currently emerging around digitalized cultural heritage.”

This year’s program showcases a range of current developments, innovations, and infrastructures. Saskia Scheltjens (Rijksmuseum), Ross Parry (University of Leicester), and Maximilian Schich (Tallinn University) will be presenting in Lighting Talks, featuring the NHM’s own open-source project Beyond the Item (bitem.at), which utilizes digital meanings to bring together various objects, people, and places to show off new possibilities for digital storytelling. The program also presents practical examples of gamification with the goal of inspiring, especially among young people, a newfound interest in cultural heritage. 

Dr. Daniela Apaydin, Communications Kulturpool
Phone: +43 664 62 16 193 | daniela.apaydin@nhm.at

Mag. Irina Kubadinow, Head of Press & Public Relations
Phone: + 43 (1) 521 77 – 410 | irina.kubadinow@nhm.at

Mag. Daniela Emminger-Stebegg, Press officer
Phone: + 43 (1) 521 77 – 680 | daniela.emminger@nhm.at

Mag. Nikolett Kertész-Schenk, Bakk. BA MAS, Press officer
Phone: + 43 (1) 521 77 – 626 | nikolett.kertesz@nhm.at