Biedermeier - Friedrich Gauermann and his time

The exhibition “Biedermeier - Friedrich Gauermann and his time” was intended to show the significant role Lower Austria played in the development of the Biedermeier art epoch. The actual occasion was the 100th anniversary of the deaths of Friedrich Gauermann (born 1807 in Miesenbach, died 1862 in Vienna) and Leopold Kupelwieser (born 1796 in Piesting, died 1862 in Vienna).

As both painters were born in the foothills of the Alps in Lower Austria, the Gutenstein region was chosen as the setting for the provincial exhibition. Extensive preparatory work had to be carried out in order to be able to show them at the designated locations: The Servite monastery on the Mariahilfberg was in a desolate state of repair and had to be thoroughly renovated. The house where Gauermann was born in Miesenbach was freshly plastered, and a new building was erected at the Postl Mill - before it was used for its actual purpose as a hotel guesthouse, it served as an exhibition building.

Time is sometimes short before the opening of a major exhibition: as all the workers in Gutenstein were unavailable due to the spring work in the forest, prisoners from the district prison in Wiener Neustadt were brought to work on the Mariahilfberg in order to bring the monastery up to scratch in time.

The majority of the more than one thousand exhibits on display at the provincial exhibition came from private collections. The total value was estimated at over ten million schillings (equivalent to around 727,000 euros). “The art of Jakob and Friedrich Gauermann and the work of Leopold Kupelwieser may bring visitors closer to an era that is rightly described as a golden age of Austrian art,” wrote exhibition designer Rupert Feuchtmüller.

In the house where Gauermann was born in Miesenbach-Scheuchenstein, which has housed a memorial since 1953, memorabilia from the family's possessions as well as pictures with Miesenbach motifs and early works by the painter were on display. In the exhibition building next to the Postl Mill, visitors were given information about the economic and social history of the Schneeberg region.

The Servite monastery on the Mariahilfberg contained the main part of the provincial exhibition. The history of Austria in the pre-March period was shown, as well as the political and intellectual background of the Biedermeier period. Visitors were informed about the theater at the time of Raimund and Nestroy as well as the music of the period. Many exhibits provided insights into craftsmanship, arts and crafts, home decor and religiosity. Of course, a large section was also dedicated to Gauermann's contemporaries, his teachers, friends and fellow artists.

Leopold Figl, Governor of Lower Austria, thanked all those who contributed to the realization of the Biedermeier exhibition, and in his catalog foreword one can sense the thoughts of the Foreign Minister of the State Treaty year 1955 between the lines: “You help Lower Austria to find new friends and admirers among its fellow Austrians, but also abroad, so that one recognizes that this country, although it must struggle for its economic recovery, does not forget that prosperity without inner content, that progress without tradition and cultural ties are worthless.”

Servitenkloster Gutenstein

Gauermann Museum