Walking into the State Hall of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, one is immediately struck by the impressive ceiling. Underneath it, almost hidden between books and statues, the exhibition “Ein Jahrhundert in Bildern. Österreich 1925-2025” is currently on display. Rather than a linear museum show, it feels like a visual compression of a hundred years of Austrian life: politics, culture, everyday scenes, protest, crisis and celebration, all folded into photographic icons.

More images can be found on my Gallery Website.

The exhibition is framed by three key anniversaries: 80 years since the end of World War II and Austria’s liberation, 70 years since the Austrian State Treaty, and 30 years since Austria joined the European Union.

The curatorial idea is to present, decade by decade, a selection of iconic images and visual media that map out how Austria has been seen - and has seen itself - over time.

Exhibition view "A Century in Pictures. Austria 1925-2025", Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Prunksaal

The show is in chronological segments, and the media emphasis is strong: photographs, posters, magazines, and other visual ephemera play a central role.

Guided Tour with Dr. Hans Petschar

One of the highlights of my visit was an exciting tour with Dr. Hans Petschar, the curator of the exhibition. Having someone intimately familiar with the selection, the critical decisions, and the connective tissue between decades offered a depth that would be impossible to glean from label reading alone.

Dr. Petschar guided us through certain pivotal photos, pointing out subtle formal decisions - cropping, tonality, juxtaposition - and how some images had circulated widely in Austrian public consciousness. He spoke of the challenges of condensing a century into a finite number of works, and of the responsibility to include troubling as well as triumphant images. His personal anecdotes - e.g. not well-known background information about the photos just before the “Österreich ist frei!” statement on the balcony in 1955 or how the photo of Alois Mock and his Hungarian colleague Gyula Horn when cutting the iron curtain - added a better understanding on history and how it is perceived decades later.

Walking with the curator made me see how a photographic exhibition is, in part, storytelling through omissions and emphases. It also reminded me, as a photographer, how images don’t stand alone - they circulate, they echo, they gain meaning as part of narratives and thus become “iconic”.

The Power (and Danger) of Familiar Photographs

One striking thing about “Ein Jahrhundert in Bildern” is how many of the works are instantly recognizable as an Austrian citizen. Whether it’s a protest from the anti-nuclear movement, the fall of the Iron Curtain, iconic portraits, or everyday scenes, many photographs carry a weight of collective memory. Some evoke joy, some irony or nostalgia; others still provoke unease or grief. The exhibition doesn’t shy away from the darker or ambiguous moments like the 1930s and the 2nd World War.

This familiarity though is a double-edged sword: as a viewer, one may feel comfort in recognition, but also a sudden visceral response - “I’ve seen this before, but what does it mean now?” The exhibition plays with that tension: the very images that feel “given” become open again, subject to new interpretation in light of current times.

As we are talking about a time period of 100 years the exhibition squeezes a lot of history into the Prunksaal which is difficult to grasp especially if there are many people blocking your way to display cases. But then again, many of the visitors just look UP and in their smartphone to take photos of the - admittedly impressive - ceiling of the State Hall.

Why This Exhibition Matters (Especially for Photographers)

As a photographer, visiting “Ein Jahrhundert in Bildern” hits at multiple chords:

It’s a reminder that photography isn’t just documentation but an agent in shaping public memory.
The curation of archival work teaches how narrative and visual editing affect meaning.
The juxtaposition of well-known and lesser-known images challenges one’s assumptions about fame and invisibility in photographic history.
The exhibition also invites reflection on the future: how will the images of the next 25, 50, 100 years be curated? What will feel iconic then? Will there even be “enough” photos given the legal issues with Street Photography these days

The exhibition is to be seen until 2 November 2025.

More images can be found on my Gallery Website.

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