Exhibition – Palais Epstein

During the 130 years of its existence, Palais Epstein has been used for more than a dozen different purposes: as a residential and commercial building for the Epstein family, as the headquarters of the English Gas Board, as a local authority office building (for Austria's Higher Administrative Court, the Vienna School Board, and the Department of Building of the Governor of the Reich under the NS regime), as the city headquarters of the Soviet army, a branch of the Academy of Music and the Performing Arts, and once again as the seat of the Vienna School Board, before it was finally adapted for parliamentary purposes.

Five media stations equipped with high-format 30-inch screens enable visitors to call up texts, pictures, graphics, animation films and short video clips. One animation film shows "Owners and utilisation of the buildings on the Ringstrasse in 1914", another provides an overview of the inhabitants of the Palais Epstein building complex during the last century. A special station was developed about the Epstein family, with a family tree interface and a family tree animation film. The presentation of this Jewish family's social network was researched on the basis of an extensive address book. The Palais as a residential and bank building is presented by means of a drawing that allows visitors a glimpse inside, as well as providing information about the rooms, their uses and their inhabitants. Objects from the building's long history, exhibited in specially manufactured showcases, also form part of the exhibition, as do original pieces of furniture and paintings.