Micheldorf in the Traunviertel: This place is even hydrologically interesting! A river, the Krems, has its source here. Parallel to Steyr and Enns, it flows northwards to the Danube and gives its name to a number of places. The settlement of the area can be proven through finds dating back to the Paleolithic. But the Stone Age working methods were replaced by iron processing early on in Micheldorf, namely in the 14th century, and the production of scythes was carried out here and developed further in a revolutionary way. 14 scythe smiths made the scythe blades one of the most important trade goods in Austria at the time. Another progressive industry was black powder production in town from 1610 until the late 20th century. The Eumig company also followed this tradition of producing innovative products in the 1960s, and a number of first-class photographs – such as the cover photo – are reminiscent of their production. It wasn’t just the precision mechanical work that required a good eye; interesting details could also be discovered in many of the entries in the Micheldorf Topothek. A close reading of the construction site board reminds us of long-forgotten administrative terms such as “productive unemployment welfare.” Wonderfully detailed technical representations of production methods, systems and machines as well as site plans and house plans allow us to immerse ourselves in the technical thinking of past centuries. And you may be surprised that in a planned garden house, a cornice at half-meter height cuts through the worthy arched openings and thus visually compresses them. Didn’t people still have knowledge of stilted arches back then? Unfortunately, the numerous portraits of the old industrialists in the Topotheque in Micheldorf cannot provide any more information about this… (As a postscript, we would like to point out a great photo from the perspective of contemporary history: the view of the Miteregger meat bank around 1980)
Martin Osen presents the Topotheque Micheldorf © Bernhard Renöckl