The new websites of the National Fund, the General Settlement Fund and the Jewish Cemeteries Fund

The new websites of the National Fund, the General Settlement Fund and the Jewish Cemeteries Fund went online on 30 June 2015, the 20th anniversary of the National Fund Law's publication.

Why new websites?

The old website for all three Funds no longer met the technical or informational standards of a modern website. New tasks, such as the renewal of the Austrian exhibition at Auschwitz and the Restoration of the Jewish cemeteries in Austria (Jewish Cemeteries Fund), made a complete overhaul of the website necessary.

What has changed?

The National Fund, the General Settlement Fund and the Jewish Cemeteries Fund are no longer accommodated at a single address/domain (www.nationalfunds.org). Each Fund now has its own website at the following addresses:

The websites of the other Funds and of the Art Database and the Findbuch operated by the National Fund can be accessed using the symbol with three vertical colored blocks at the top right of each page.

What are some of the highlights?

  • With the exception of original documents the entire content of the new websites is available in German and English. This includes every individual page and the contents of the databases.
  • The project database: descriptions of around 1,500 projects that have been sponsored by the National Fund since 1996, with a full text search and various filter options.
  • Jewish Cemeteries Fund database: information on over 60 Jewish cemeteries throughout Austria, with geo-data, and on the ongoing and completed restoration projects.
  • Arbitration Panel database: all decisions of the Arbitration Panel for In Rem Restitution (at present around 1,100 decisions) in full with brief descriptions or press releases, a full text search function and various filter options
  • Autobiographical recollections of Austrian victims of National Socialism with diverse stories of persecution, which can also be filtered by keyword
  • Open access to a wide range of publications as PDF documents.

Design, layout and technology

  • Uniform, pared down design for all three Funds
  • Color coding system attributing content to the relevant Fund(s) to improve usability
  • Responsive design optimized for display on various types of software and screen sizes (smart phones and tablets).
  • RSS feeds for news items (service/news) and press releases (service/press), continually informing interested parties of new content
  • Integration of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Google +, enabling content to be shared easily
  • The websites are programmed so that security and compatibility with technical advances can be easily guaranteed in future