Museum Documentary

The Remarkable Rescue of a Historic Advertising Wall

In August 2019, the Vienna Museum commissioned us to document, on film, the removal of a historic advertising wall for its new online magazine. The lettering itself was intended for later display in the museum’s new permanent exhibition.

During the week-long shoot, the entire team was anxious about whether the severely damaged wall could be salvaged.

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The shop signage is to be presented in the new permanent exhibition of the Vienna Museum as a testament to the fate of Vienna’s Jewish population under National Socialism.

Adolf Grünsfeld founded the business in 1906; in 1938, it was “Aryanised.” His son, Hans Grünsfeld, fled to Bolivia, where he took his own life in 1955.

As emotionally charged as the history of the site itself was the documentation of its removal: until the very end, it remained uncertain whether the conservator Anna Boomgaarden and her team would succeed in salvaging the lettering without damage.

For further details, see the article (in German language) in the Vienna Museum Magazine.