On October 31, 2014, voestalpine opened a permanent exhibition at its Group headquarters in Linz, becoming the first private company to address the fate of the Nazi forced laborers from the former “Reichswerke Hermann Göring” in Linz. Since then, more than 23,000 visitors have visited the Museum of Contemporary History, including numerous school groups and many relatives of former forced laborers.
The contemporary history exhibition is a significant contribution for the globally active steel and technology group, addressing the most politically, historically, and emotionally challenging part of its corporate history. At the same time, the museum serves as a permanent place of remembrance.
The history of a company is not only written in key performance indicators and balance sheets. The history of a company also includes the people and their achievements and, in this case, their suffering and their fates. For the past 10 years, we have been addressing Nazi forced labor at the Linz location in our Museum of Contemporary History with a publicly accessible and permanent exhibition. The active transfer of knowledge is particularly important to us, which is why we also offer professional guided tours for schoolchildren.
The educational tour concept, along with its special programs, is mainly aimed at young people and school groups, and free materials are provided to help prepare for the exhibition.
The exhibition was inspired by the largest archival find in post-war Austria from 1998, which included more than 38,000 Nazi personnel files and payroll records. This discovery formed the foundation for comprehensive research by an independent commission of scientists to investigate the past of the voestalpine Group. The content of the Museum of Contemporary History was developed from the results of historians’ research, extensive archival materials, and interviews with survivors. In addition to the permanent exhibition, there are also regular special exhibitions.
The Museum of Contemporary History is open to individual visitors every Friday from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, and on Saturday from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm and 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Guided tours are also organized for groups of 15 people or more on other working days.
More information at: https://www.voestalpine.com/zeitgeschichte/en
voestalpine is a globally leading steel and technology group with a unique combination of materials and processing expertise. voestalpine, which operates globally, has around 500 Group companies and locations in more than 50 countries on all five continents. The voestalpine Group has been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since 1995. With its premium products and system solutions, voestalpine is a leading partner to the automotive and consumer goods industries, as well as to the aerospace and energy industries. The company is also the global market leader in railway systems, tool steel, and special sections. voestalpine is committed to the global climate goals and has a clear plan for transforming steel production with its greentec steel program. In the business year 2023/24, the Group generated revenue of EUR 16.7 billion, with an operating result (EBITDA) of EUR 1.7 billion; it has around 51,600 employees worldwide.
