On Wednesday, Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner appointed Georg Hoffmann as the new director and head of the Museum of Military History at the Rossauer Kaserne in Vienna. The 43-year-old native of Styria is regarded as a forward-looking scientist with an understanding of museum design.
“A new beginning means having the courage to change, to leave old paths and build new bridges. With Georg Hoffmann and the legal scholar Stephanie Pracherstorfer-Prigl, we have made the right choice to lead the museum into a modern age and into calmer waters. After hard work, together with the appointed commission, we are now on the right track,” said Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner at the press conference.
The new director aims to modernize and further develop the museum in order to make it a place for open discussion about military history and thus a museum of the 21st century. An important aspect of this is the thematic development towards a consideration of “military and society”. Hoffmann: “The focus should not be on the pure presentation of the military, but on the discussion of the interrelationship between the military and society through the ages, with the focus on people. Multi-perspectivity and diversity are the guiding principles and standards for modern museums.” The new director will also focus on team development, including increasing the proportion of women. Another goal is to activate the HGM as a place of learning and discussion for female and male soldiers, as well as participating in the cooperation between the Austrian Armed Forces and the Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial with regard to historical awareness. In this way, the HGM is to make an important contribution in the area of spiritual national defense and to the strengthening of democracy. As a military and contemporary historian, exhibition curator and militia officer, Georg Hoffmann has the necessary qualifications to manage the museum. Hoffmann studied at the Karl-Franzens University in Graz and in Budapest.
