In addition to the numerous handwritten records of lyrics and melodies, and flyers, image and sound documents, our library holds the largest collection of books and journals about Austrian folk music, folk songs, folk dance and folk poetry.
The extensive collection has been enhanced by major bequests from researchers into folk music and folk dance, including the important collections of Georg Kotek (focusing on folk songs) and Raimund Zoder (focusing on dance).
The collections of sound documents range from shellacs, LPs, tapes and cassettes to digital tapes and CDs. They include examples of private singing and music-making recorded during fieldwork all over Austria in recent decades. The results of the “Digitisation of analogue sound documents” project are available for you to listen to and analyse in the Reading Room.
We continuously update our collection in accordance with the rules of the “INFOLK Information System for Folk Song Archives in Austria” to make it accessible for you.
This systematic approach to Austrian folk music is based on jointly agreed and recognised definitions that were worked out after long, specialist, internal discussions. A special feature is that they connect different document types in one database which can also be used to access all the folk song archives in the federal states.
Virtual Joint Database of Folk Song Archives in Austria and South Tyrol
Due to an event, the State Hall will close at 6 p.m. on Thursday, October, 24, at 4 p.m. on Friday, November 1 and at 6 p.m. on Thursday, November 14.
The reading rooms at Heldenplatz will be closed on Saturday, 2 of November.