St. Martin’s Church, Crusaders and Bottle Beer
1200 Years in Linz in the Mirror of Archaeology

Recent excavations and soil sampling have brought to light exciting archaeological finds in Linz’s urban precinct. The objects displayed in this exhibition date to the period from the early Middle Ages to after the end of the Monarchy.

The exhibition takes its cue from significant grave finds from Linz-St. Peter and Zizlau dating to the seventh century AD. Rich burial gifts, such as weapons or rare jewellery, testify to the wealth of at least some people at the time. Having settled on the banks of the Traun and the Danube, they were ideally located as middlemen in the flourishing salt trade. Another focus of the exhibition is the model of the central structure of Linz’s well-known church, St. Martin’s, and a blueprint of a reconstruction model that attests the huge dimensions of the predecessor church. An animated film by Linz artist Edith Stauber about St. Martin’s links the structure to the present day.

Never before shown swords and everyday objects from Carolingian times and the era of the crusades cast light on the Middle Ages. These high medieval swords, which were retrieved from the Danube and the Traun, caused quite a stir in the media over recent years. The results of up-to-date metallurgical analyses, which testify to the first-class workmanship of armourers at the time, and the inscriptions on the swords, which have not yet been fully deciphered, will both feature prominently at the exhibition.

Early modern times are represented by raw ceramics with the imprint of a Linz workshop located on the Graben. Other finds, some extremely rare, from the vicinity of the old Town Hall allow insights into the era from the late Middle Ages to the nineteenth century.

Another exhibit from around 1800 is an authentic, huge trench profile taken from Napoleonic fortifications (with gun position). A selection of contemporary arms and war utensils are also on display. The dating of Napoleon’s gun position is made possible by the find of coins which are part of the ensemble. One of them was found as recently as August 2015 at the Keplerwiese and is on display here for the first time.

Object culture until roughly 1930, documented by excavated household wares of all kinds, pipe bowls and other curious everyday objects, mark the end of this extended time travel. They include a great number of beer bottles from local and regional breweries that brewed their own barley juice until well into the twentieth century. Quite a few of them will cause visitors to smile in recognition …

Photo and video material will give visitors an impression of the annual archaeological digs at the Keplerwiese near Linz Castle. For more than 20 years, the Nordico Stadtmuseum in cooperation with the University of Vienna has organised archaeological digs there and at other sites, which were repeatedly crowned with unexpected finds.

The volumes of the Linzer Archäologische Forschungen published the results of the excavations as they occurred. These volumes are on sale during the exhibition at the Nordico Shop.

Curators: Erwin M. Ruprechtsberger und Otto H. Urban
Exhibition architecture: mia2/​Gnigler/​Wilhelm/​Architektur, Co-worker: Nina Bammer