Österreichische Mediathek, Sound archive and library in Mariahilf, Vienna, Austria

The Österreichische Mediathek is the Austrian archive for sound and video recordings in Mariahilf, run as a branch of the Technisches Museum Wien. Its shelves hold rows of white-spined folders and tape reels, among them the blue-numbered TONBAND KLEIN boxes and a red-labelled PRASTIKA reel. The holdings range from shellac and vinyl records to DAT and compact cassettes, CDs, DVDs and digital files.

The Österreichische Mediathek was founded in 1960 as the Österreichische Phonothek by the Ministry of Education. Since 2001 it has been part of the Technisches Museum Wien, a scientific institution under public law. It also took over around 450 sound and video documents from the Salzburger Festspiele for digitisation and long-term archiving.

The Österreichische Mediathek holds the Günther Schifter collection of interwar shellac records and the Rot-Weiß-Rot collection of post-war radio recordings. Its online platform journale.at offers the Ö1 radio journals from 1967 to 1999 in full length, including the Mittagsjournal. Virtual exhibitions, such as an acoustic chronicle of Austria from 1900 to 2008, present these holdings to the public.

The archive is accessible to researchers and interested visitors through dedicated listening stations and digital platforms in specialized spaces. It is best to check opening times in advance and request specific materials if needed for your visit.

The shelves in the photograph carry the label "TONBAND KLEIN" beside blue numerals 7 to 10, marking where small audio tapes were filed. Among the white folders sit paper labels reading "X" and "PRASTIKA", and below them three metal reels, one with a red ring. The archive also holds around 450 sound and video documents taken over from the Salzburger Festspiele for digitisation.