The Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna not only has a treasure trove, it is one. Every year, countless visitors from all over the world come to marvel at important examples of artistic creation in the imposing building opposite the Hofburg. But how do certain treasures come to be presented in a certain room? Who is thinking what? Who are the people who get the museum machine rolling and keep it running? What do they do all day?
With The Great Museum, renowned documentary filmmaker Johannes Holzhausen, born in Salzburg in 1960, delivers a portrait of an institution in the best Wiseman tradition. Holzhausen, who himself studied art history before completing his training at the Vienna Film Academy, observes and listens. He collects impressions, provides insights into various areas of work from restoration to marketing and assembles them into a highly lively and always very funny picture of everyday life behind the scenes. The representative task of the museum, which takes precedence over exhibiting works of art, also becomes clear: to make the heritage of the imperial and royal monarchy accessible to the present day. Monarchy for the present - and thus to create an identity for the Republic of Austria.
