In the run-up to the Upper Austrian state exhibition, conservators and building researchers Maria Brand, Fabia Podgorschek and Marie-Luise Reinecke discovered wall paintings in Lamberg Castle in Steyr in spring 2020 as part of a preliminary conservation study and restored them in winter 2020/2021 State exhibitions are seen as a driving force for the culture of a region. The first Bavarian exhibition was held in Munich in 1976 and the […]
In the run-up to the Upper Austrian provincial exhibition, restorers and building researchers Maria Brand, Fabia Podgorschek and Marie-Luise Reinecke discovered wall paintings in Lamberg Castle in Steyr in spring 2020 during a preliminary restoration investigation and restored them in winter 2020/2021
State exhibitions are seen as a driving force for the culture of a region. The first Bavarian state exhibition took place in Munich in 1976, the first in Baden-Württemberg in 1977 and the first in Saxony in 1998. The format is also popular in Austria. The first Upper Austrian state exhibition was held in 1965. State exhibitions can bundle individual activities and increase media interest. These events, which are planned well in advance, are expected to generate synergy effects that have a positive impact on urban development, culture, the economy, tourism and marketing. Restoration projects can also be driven forward in this way, as the example of Steyr, the third largest city in Upper Austria, shows.
Under the slogan “Work – Prosperity – Power”, the Upper Austrian Provincial Exhibition 2021 illustrated the history of the city from the Middle Ages to the present day. At the three locations Museum Arbeitswelt, Innerberger Stadel and Lamberg Castle, it sheds light on the three social groups – the working classes, bourgeoisie and nobility – that have shaped the history of the city.
Maria Brand, Fabia Podgorschek and Marie-Luise Reinecke discovered wall paintings in Lamberg Castle
The imposing Lamberg Castle rises high above the town, which was built at the confluence of the Steyr and Enns rivers. In the run-up to the provincial exhibition, restorers and building researchers Maria Brand, Fabia Podgorschek and Marie-Luise Reinecke discovered wall paintings in the castle in spring 2020 as part of a preliminary restoration survey and restored them in winter 2020/2021. Other interior rooms (prince’s room, library, first floor room in the palace gallery) and two sections of the façade (chapel apse and palace gallery) were also examined.
Layer stratigraphy to record the historical plaster and façade elements
One particular challenge, however, was the conservation and restoration of the wall paintings in the Baroque room. During the on-site investigation, layer stratigraphies were created to record the historical plaster and molding and these were documented in writing and photographically. In addition, a detailed as-built and damage analysis was carried out and documented. The façades were mapped and the interiors were individually described and recorded. In addition, scientific analyses were carried out at the laboratory of the Federal Monuments Office on various detailed questions.
