Renovation work for the Austrian exhibition at the Auschwitz Memorial has commenced

Following public procurement proceedings, on 26 August 2019 the National Fund of the Republic of Austria awarded the Krakow-based company Tomas Francuz the contract to renovate Block A-17 on the grounds of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial. Following the signature of the general contractor agreement on 6 September 2019 in Vienna, the construction site was formally handed over yesterday in Auschwitz-Birkenau.

“We have found a reliable and competent partner in the Polish company ‘Francuz’” declared Secretary General Hannah Lessing. The construction company has broad experience in dealing with protected buildings, particularly as a result of its collaborations with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, where Francuz, contracted by the Israeli Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem, carried out impressive adaptation work on Block A-27 housing the exhibition “Shoah”.

The comprehensive renovation work on the former inmate block A-17 needs to be carried out before the new Austrian national exhibition can be installed there. Among other things it will include the demolition of the constructions used in the 1978 exhibition, static improvements throughout the building, the installation of modern building utilities, interior fittings and preparatory measures for the upcoming exhibition. This work is subject to strict conservational regulations, as the entire grounds of the former death camp are under monument protection. In addition to the improvements carried out on the building, the company will also put a wide range of safety measures in place.

Once the renovation has been completed the new Austrian exhibition will be installed on the ground floor of block A-17.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum approved the script for the new exhibition in July 2019, meaning that the National Fund, the curators and the architecture firm Martin Kohlbauer can continue to prepare the exhibition’s realization while the block is being renovated.

The renovation and the installation of the new exhibition will be visually documented for an online exhibition by the photographers Anderwald+Grond in cooperation with the curators Hannes Sulzenbacher, Albert Lichtblau and Barbara Staudinger.

Further information can be found at: https://www.nationalfonds.org/renovation.