Roman history across the border

ONLY until November 15 will visitors have a chance to see the Exhibition of Lower Austria 2011 that cost €42 million to assemble and is a cultural highlight of the region of eastern Austria. Since its opening in mid April, more than 450,000 people have visited one of the three sites making up the exhibition: the open-air museum at Petronell, the archaeological Museum Carnuntinum in Bad Deutsch-Altenburg and the Hainburg Culture Factory.

While the open-air museum offers a fascinating stroll through an authentic, reconstructed Roman residential quarter that includes Villa Urbana and 4th century Roman baths, the Museum Carnuntinum is rightly called the treasure house of the Carnuntum Archaeological Park. The third site, Hainburg Culture Factory, invites visitors to embark on a journey of conquest and exploration through time and space as its presentation illuminates the history of civilisation from pre-Roman times to the 21st century.

“The exhibition in the Museum Carnuntinum is the result of five years of scientific work and contains over 1,100 exhibits,” said Gabrielle Kremer, curator of the exhibition, adding that it provides an important insight into the religious practices of residents of ancient Carnuntum.

She noted that Roman history in this region is closely linked with parts of Slovakia as significant Roman ruins have been unearthed in Devín as well as in Rusovce, where the Roman military camp named Gerulata was located.

The Images of God – Images of Humanity show, which was developed just for the Exhibition of Lower Austria 2011, showcases valuable artefacts such as statues, reliefs, altars, stelai on gravestones and works of architecture that predominantly came from this region and offer a better understanding of religious and social life in the Roman Empire.

The organisers of the Exhibition of Lower Austria 2011, with written information in German, English and Slovak, estimate that about 10 percents of its visitors have come from Slovakia.