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MenschenLeben
A collection of biographical narratives
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The oral history project MenschenLeben offers diversity in every respect. Without thematic restrictions, an ever-growing collection of life stories is emerging that offers unique sources for a variety of research, publication and mediation approaches: for scientific research, in the museum and exhibition sector, in education and mediation work or in the media.
Since 2009, more than 2,000 people of all ages with a biographical connection to Austria have shared their life stories in audio and video interviews lasting several hours. The interviews are conducted with people of different generations, genders and backgrounds and offer audio experiences and insights into the diversity of life in Austria in the 20th and 21st centuries. The collection MenschenLeben (Life Stories) is home to a wide range of voices and life stories in different dialects, accents and forms of memory. Private narratives are interwoven with social and political developments, whose influence on people's everyday lives and life courses is made visible, audible and comprehensible.
The biographical interviews are archived with written transcriptions, keywords and accompanying material in the Austrian Media Library and made accessible. About a third of the MenschenLeben interviews can be viewed online in the digital collection of the Austrian Media Library in full or in excerpts. All other oral history interviews in this collection are available via the general catalogue and can be listened to on site in the Österreichsche Mediathek.
You can gain insights into the MenschenLeben collection in the online exhibitions Selected Biographical Portraits from the MenschenLeben Collection and Deep Dive – Focal Points from the MenschenLeben Collection.
01:08:06
(00:09:01 until 00:12:16)
audio
Hilde Menzel, born in Vienna in 1919,
tells about her pregnancy in 1946, the birth of twins and the difficulty of feeding the children in the hard post-war years.
Details
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00:01:32
(00:22:32 until 00:26:05)
audio
Elizabeth Kerkmann, born in 1972 in Dar es Salaam,
tells us that in Africa, you don't look men in the eye, and that it is much louder at Christmas than in Austria.
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00:24:48
(00:04:50 until 00:07:38)
audio
Alois Will, born in Mank in 1941,
talks about how he witnessed the shooting of concentration camp prisoners by the SS as a child on his family's farm and why he later dedicated a memorial to the victims.
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00:41:44
(00:21:31 until 00:25:08)
audio
Wilfried Sandrell, born in Gaschurn in 1955,
recalls his excuses for playing hooky from school.
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Method
The interviews in the Menschenleben collection are conducted according to a three-phase model. A free narrative phase – the so-called ‘narrative phase’ – in which people are allowed to tell their life story as freely as possible, is followed by a ‘follow-up phase’ and an ‘object-based’ interview section.
Would you like to give a life history interview?
You have the opportunity to tell us your life story and thus become part of the MenschenLeben collection. The interview, which lasts several hours, is about your entire life story with all your individual experiences, insights and adventures. The interview will be recorded and made available in the Austrian Media Library and archived for the long term. You decide on the type and timing of of publication in a declaration of consent.
If you are interested, please contact: menschenleben@mediathek.at
Are you looking for oral history sources?
The Österreichische Mediathek's catalogue allows you to delve into over 2000 life stories and search specifically for people, places and topics. In addition, numerous online exhibitions offer in-depth insights into individual biographies, focal points and collaborations. Interviews that are not available via the digital collection can be viewed or listened to on site at the Österreichische Mediathek (Gumpendorfer Straße 95, 1st floor, 1060 Vienna).
If you have any special research requests, we will be happy to help: menschenleben@mediathek.at
Collaboration and networking with scientific institutions, regional associations, archives and museums, interviewers and researchers is an integral part of the MenschenLeben collection project. The topics that arise in this way form points of reference for society and science.
Since 2019, the collection, which now comprises over 2,000 biographical interviews, has been expanded to include various groups of people and individual biographies, and the proportion of video interviews in the collection has been increased.
Are you interested in working with the MenschenLeben Collection?
This offer is aimed at researchers, interviewers, research institutions, associations, archives or museums and includes, among other things, conducting interviews on behalf of and in accordance with the guidelines of the MenschenLeben Collection, as well as long-term archiving at the Österreichische Mediathek.
It is also possible to archive existing oral history interviews at the Österreichische Mediathek.
If you are interested in working with us, please contact us at: menschenleben@mediathek.at.
Alle weiteren Kooperationen der Sammlung MenschenLeben finden Sie unter: Kooperationen
