About the exhibition
The renovation of the Josephinum, founded in 1785 by Joseph II. as a military surgical academy and built by architect Isidore Canevale, was aimed at restoring the original condition in areas such as the lecture hall or the cour d'honneur as far as possible. Since 1920, the Josephinum has been home to the world's unique historical collections of the Medical University of Vienna. The Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft was responsible for the renovation as client and property owner. The highlight of the renovation is the dismantling of the semicircular nine-meter-high lecture hall, which was divided by a false ceiling in 1947, and the uncovering of the portraits of scholars on the walls, which had been hidden for decades.
On behalf of the Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft and the Josephinum/Medical University of Vienna, Reiner Riedler has documented the extensive construction activities from the beginning in 2019.
Reiner Riedler was born in Gmunden and is internationally renowned as a documentary photographer. The Josephinum has already exhibited his photographs in 2016 as part of the solo exhibition "Will - Lifesaving Machines".
