With around 270 museums, collections, and museum-like institutions, Upper Austria presents itself as a diverse museum landscape. These institutions offer insights into both the past and the present artistic and cultural achievements of the region.

With a wide range of thematic focuses, the museums are dedicated to collecting, preserving, researching, and interpreting cultural assets of both regional and international importance. They keep alive the memory of influential personalities and pivotal historical events, and make social, cultural, and technological developments over the centuries tangible and comprehensible.

Upper Austria’s museums tell stories of everyday life in times past, of how people lived and worked, of the region’s natural and cultural landscapes, and of its eventful history. At the same time, they see themselves as vibrant places of learning and discovery: through contemporary exhibitions, innovative educational formats, and diverse programmes, they appeal to visitors of all ages. In this way, they invite engagement with the past, present, and future from a variety of perspectives.

The museums are now taking a further step by making selected collections available in digital form. With the support of the funding programme Kulturerbe digital (Digital Cultural Heritage), the Verbund Oberösterreichischer Museen (Upper Austrian Museums Association) has established a digital collections portal that can be used by all member museums and is being expanded on an ongoing basis. Interested visitors, researchers, and experts are warmly invited to explore the collections and develop new research questions. Currently, two museums are represented in Kulturpool.

The Museum Innviertler Volkskundehaus presents a selection of highlight objects from its extensive folklore collection. Alongside sculptures by the renowned Schwanthaler family of sculptors from Ried, unique objects of religious folk art have been made accessible, including special rosaries (e.g. made from snake vertebrae beads), Breverl (amulets), baptism medals, and valuable reliquary works. Various amulets, St. Ulrich’s crosses, “envy figs”, and St. Sebastian’s arrows, as well as devotional images and holy cards dating back to the 17th century – all bearing witness to the deep religiosity of the people of that time – have also been digitised. Everyday objects such as textiles, headwear, jewellery, and love letters complete the selection.

The Färbermuseum Gutau is dedicated to the traditional craft of blue printing (Blaudruck), which was recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2018. Housed in a historic dye works, the museum displays tools, fabrics, patterns, and finished pieces that vividly illustrate the traditional technique. Another focal point is the Zötl family, who operated the dye works and produced significant figures in Upper Austria’s cultural history. Through comprehensive digital documentation, the museum is opening its collection to interested audiences and researchers worldwide.

Further digitised collections from Upper Austrian museums will follow, continuously expanding the virtual offering.