On November 3rd, Mayor Christian Gepp presented and launched the Korneuburg Topotheque in the city’s magnificent town hall — inaugurated in 1896, where the painted Emperor Kaiser Franz Josef still looks out over local municipal proceedings from the large council chamber. Kornelia Holzner-Tobisch, head of the Korneuburg Topotheque team, moderated the presentations. Judith Sorta guided visitors through the architectural history of the city’s military aspects — which included not only numerous barracks and military facilities but even a training railway used by the Imperial and Royal (k.u.k.) Army. Kornelia Holzner-Tobisch described the topographical evolution of Korneuburg and the history of the town hall, while Peter Eiserle used the Topotheque’s search function to present the chronological history of a specific building. Also in attendance was Reinhard Schöpfer; he is publishing his extensive collection of personal photographs — which are of great documentary value for the city‘s development — in the Topotheque for the first time, thereby preserving them for posterity. Alexander Schatek explained the Topotheque’s search features to the audience.
Also present at the presentation were District Administrator Andreas Strobl, City Pastor Stefan Koller, members of the city and municipal councils, and Roman Zehetmayer, Director of the Lower Austrian State Archives, as well as numerous interested residents of Korneuburg. Topotheque curators from Topotheques in the surrounding area were also welcomed.
The Korneuburg Topotheque launches with an initial collection of 400 images. The wealth of history contained within is immediately apparent from photos of the main square (simply set the sort order to „Age: Oldest“) and the imperial visit for the opening of the town hall. An example from Reinhard Schöpfer’s collection shows how long-time residents of Korneuburg viewed the streetscape: the grey garbage truck and the Ford Cortina were commonplace sights; back then, people might have turned their heads for a new Mercedes — but that car is positioned in the foreground anyway, lending the image both spatial depth and a timestamp. It is precisely these „ordinary“ subjects — deemed „nothing special“ at the time — that are so rarely captured, yet for that very reason, they possess immense documentary value today, serving both personal memories and historical records.
But that is not all. The Topotheque team in Korneuburg looks forward to receiving further photos, documents, and memories from the public. Anyone who has historical material at home that tells a story about Korneuburg and its people is invited to enrich this new Topotheque.
The town hall, dating from 1896, provided a magnificent setting for the opening of the towns Topotheque © Alexander Schatek
Mayor Christian Gepp inaugurated the City of Korneuburg´s Topotheque in the town hall´s large meeting room. © Alexander Schatek
Kornelia Holzner-Tobisch moderated the opening event. © Alexander Schatek