Municipality of Melk Purchases Old Cinema for City Museum Project

The Municipality of Melk bought the old cinema at Linzer Straße 7 from the Brocza family through its subsidiary, Melker GrundstЭcksgesmbH. As part of the Lower Austrian urban renewal process XL, a city museum is to be set up there.

CITY OF MELK. The cinema in the rear building of the Gasthof zum Weißen Lamm was in operation from 1918 to 1988 and served as a warehouse and workshop in the following years. The anteroom, two adjoining rooms and the cinema hall are to be used as museum rooms. In the February meeting, the city council of Melk commissioned Franz Pötscher to create a concept for the museum. Pötscher had previously created and implemented the concept for the Melk theme trail “Red Thread” and, among other things, also looks after the museum organizers at Melk Abbey in designing the Wachau laboratory exhibitions in the north bastion.

Colorful range of topics

The concept is to be developed together with a project working group from the municipality of Melk. The Stadtmuseum Melk is intended to convey the history of the city in a representative and contemporary form. It is intended to serve as a starting point for the “The Red Thread” themed trail, which opened in 2015, and to round off this offer for tourists and locals with information on the history of the city. The range of topics extends from prehistory to the periods described in the “Red Thread” to the history of the exhibition venue – from the history of cinema to the personal memories of cinema-goers. “I would like to thank the Brozca family for allowing the municipality of Melk to implement the project in this property. In 2020, I promised that we will present the treasures of the borough to the public accordingly. With the purchase of the property, the go-ahead has now been given,” says Mayor Patrick Strobl.

Implementation 2024

This year in October, the project is to be submitted to the state of Lower Austria for funding as part of the Lower Austrian urban renewal process XL. The project is scheduled to be implemented in 2024.