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The Mountains of Tyrol
Tiroler Postkarten aus der Sammlung des MEK
© Museum Europäischer Kulturen / Christian Krug
Die Ausstellung des MEK präsentiert eine Vielzahl von Objekten und Geschichten.
© Museum Europäischer Kulturen / Christian Krug
Cowbells, the Berliner Hütte mountain hut in the Zillertal Alps, glacial waste and a statue of Saint Nicholas – all are connected through the mountain landscape of Tyrol. The exhibition explores the relationships between people and mountains, past and present. Alongside historical objects, it features artworks, films, songs and interactive stations. An exhibition for mountain enthusiasts, families and curious visitors alike.
Tyrol’s mountains feel familiar: images of snow-covered peaks, untouched nature and mountain huts continue to shape the region’s image today. Yet a closer look also reveals motorways, dams and ski lifts. This is not a contradiction, but part of a region whose mountains have long been shaped by diverse forms of use. The mountains influence the lives of people in Tyrol, while people in turn shape the mountains themselves. Economic activity and scientific research are just as much a part of this landscape as trade and travel.
The exhibition focuses on the mountains of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, where global challenges such as climate change and mass tourism are especially visible. How are people responding to these challenges? What strategies emerge when tourism and mountain pasture farming lead to competing demands on the landscape, when avalanches and rockfalls become part of everyday life, or when snow fails to arrive in ski resorts?
Whether controlled avalanche detonations or glacial waste, Almkranz or Schluchtenteufel: the mountain stories told in this exhibition are at times beautiful, unsettling, exciting or moving. They reveal the many different relationships between people and mountains.
Berlin, too, plays an important role: for more than 150 years, the Tyrolean mountains have been part of Berlin’s leisure culture – from the so-called Alpine balls around 1900 to the Berlin section of the German Alpine Club, which built the Berliner Hütte mountain hut in the Zillertal Alps.
Discover and Participate
The exhibition presents historical and contemporary objects, graphics and photographs, films and songs, as well as artworks across approximately 300 square metres. The estimated visit duration is 60 to 90 minutes. Interviews and additional materials invite visitors to explore selected themes in greater depth.
Interactive stations invite visitors to become active themselves: touching materials such as pine wood or flax, photographing themselves in imaginary mountain landscapes, trying out games or creating their own mountain collages.
An audio guide (German/English) accompanies visitors through the exhibition. Children aged 6 to 10 can follow a special “mountain trail” designed for discovering, exploring and participating.
Children, young people and families are especially welcome.
European Cultural Days: Tyrol
The exhibition opens alongside the 22nd European Cultural Days (26 July to 23 August 2026), which this year are dedicated to Tyrol. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore the region and its culture and exchange ideas with others. A diverse programme featuring concerts, readings, culinary events, open-air cinema, a climbing day and a yodelling workshop invites audiences to discover Tyrol from many different perspectives.
Supported by the Association of Friends of the Museum Europäischer Kulturen and Tirol Werbung
Media partnership: HIMBEER
A special exhibition of the Museum Europäischer Kulturen – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in cooperation with the Tiroler Volkskunstmuseum, the Ötztaler Museen, the Institute of History and European Ethnology at the University of Innsbruck, the Austrian Alpine Club, the Berlin section of the German Alpine Club and the Austrian Cultural Forum Berlin
Tyrol’s mountains feel familiar: images of snow-covered peaks, untouched nature and mountain huts continue to shape the region’s image today. Yet a closer look also reveals motorways, dams and ski lifts. This is not a contradiction, but part of a region whose mountains have long been shaped by diverse forms of use. The mountains influence the lives of people in Tyrol, while people in turn shape the mountains themselves. Economic activity and scientific research are just as much a part of this landscape as trade and travel.
The exhibition focuses on the mountains of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, where global challenges such as climate change and mass tourism are especially visible. How are people responding to these challenges? What strategies emerge when tourism and mountain pasture farming lead to competing demands on the landscape, when avalanches and rockfalls become part of everyday life, or when snow fails to arrive in ski resorts?
Whether controlled avalanche detonations or glacial waste, Almkranz or Schluchtenteufel: the mountain stories told in this exhibition are at times beautiful, unsettling, exciting or moving. They reveal the many different relationships between people and mountains.
Berlin, too, plays an important role: for more than 150 years, the Tyrolean mountains have been part of Berlin’s leisure culture – from the so-called Alpine balls around 1900 to the Berlin section of the German Alpine Club, which built the Berliner Hütte mountain hut in the Zillertal Alps.
Discover and Participate
The exhibition presents historical and contemporary objects, graphics and photographs, films and songs, as well as artworks across approximately 300 square metres. The estimated visit duration is 60 to 90 minutes. Interviews and additional materials invite visitors to explore selected themes in greater depth.
Interactive stations invite visitors to become active themselves: touching materials such as pine wood or flax, photographing themselves in imaginary mountain landscapes, trying out games or creating their own mountain collages.
An audio guide (German/English) accompanies visitors through the exhibition. Children aged 6 to 10 can follow a special “mountain trail” designed for discovering, exploring and participating.
Children, young people and families are especially welcome.
European Cultural Days: Tyrol
The exhibition opens alongside the 22nd European Cultural Days (26 July to 23 August 2026), which this year are dedicated to Tyrol. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore the region and its culture and exchange ideas with others. A diverse programme featuring concerts, readings, culinary events, open-air cinema, a climbing day and a yodelling workshop invites audiences to discover Tyrol from many different perspectives.
Supported by the Association of Friends of the Museum Europäischer Kulturen and Tirol Werbung
Media partnership: HIMBEER
A special exhibition of the Museum Europäischer Kulturen – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in cooperation with the Tiroler Volkskunstmuseum, the Ötztaler Museen, the Institute of History and European Ethnology at the University of Innsbruck, the Austrian Alpine Club, the Berlin section of the German Alpine Club and the Austrian Cultural Forum Berlin
Runtime: Wed, 29/07/2026 to Sun, 25/04/2027
Price info: Admission ticket. Museum Europäischer Kulturen
Price: €10.00
Reduced price: €5.00
Price: €10.00
Reduced price: €5.00
Takes place here:
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