THE SITE
Mauerbach Charterhouse, the former Carthusian monastery of Mauerbach, is located in Lower Austria on the western outskirts of Vienna. Founded in 1314 by Duke Friedrich der Schöne of the House of Habsburg, the monastery developed into an important religious and architectural ensemble whose present form largely reflects extensive rebuilding campaigns of the seventeenth century. Following its dissolution in 1782 under Emperor Joseph II, the complex underwent several phases of adaptive reuse, including use as a poorhouse, infirmary, emergency hospital, and temporary housing, before falling into prolonged neglect during the mid-twentieth century.
Since 1984, Mauerbach Charterhouse has served as the Information and Training Centre for Heritage Conservation of the Austrian Federal Monuments Authority. The site functions as a national and international reference centre for applied research, training, and professional exchange in heritage conservation. Its work focuses on traditional building materials and techniques, including lime-based mortars, historic masonry, plasterwork, and architectural surfaces. The Charterhouse also houses one of the most extensive collections of historic bricks and tiles in Austria, spanning from the Middle Ages to the modern period and comprising approximately 1,200 individual objects.
This collection brings together material from various departments of the Federal Monuments Authority, regional conservation offices, and academic institutions. It supports research into historic construction techniques, material provenance, and dating methods, while also serving as a practical reference for conservation decision-making. In addition to historic specimens, the collection includes modern replacement materials and tested industrial substitutes, allowing for comparative assessment of material performance and compatibility in conservation practice. As part of its long-term mission, the gradual documentation and digitisation of the collection aims to make this resource accessible to researchers and practitioners beyond the site itself.
THE PROJECT
The European Heritage Volunteers Project at Mauerbach Charterhouse in 2026 constitutes the concluding phase of the documentation and cataloguing work initiated in 2025. Building directly on the methodologies, standards, and progress established during the previous project edition, the 2026 project will complete the systematic processing of the historic brick and tile collection housed at the Mauerbach Charterhouse.
Participants will continue working with the standardised inventory system developed by the Austrian Federal Monuments Authority, engaging in the cleaning, sorting, weighing, measuring, and detailed documentation of remaining objects within the collection. Particular attention will be given to completing typological classifications, verifying existing entries, and finalising object descriptions to ensure consistency and accuracy across the entire dataset. Each participant will again conduct focused research on selected objects, contributing to a representative coverage of periods, production techniques, and functional categories.
The completion of this documentation phase will directly support Mauerbach Charterhouse’s broader objective of making the collection accessible for research, conservation practice, and future exhibition use, including its planned presentation in the upper floor of the library. The work will be carried out under the guidance of an experienced historic building researcher and in close cooperation with specialists from the Burghauptmannschaft Österreich and the Austrian Federal Monuments Authority.
The educational programme will further expand the participants’ understanding of historic bricks and tiles through expert-led lectures, guided site visits, and thematic discussions. Building on the previous year’s focus, sessions will address material technology, regional variations, and conservation challenges related to ceramic building materials. An excursion to Vienna will provide broader architectural and historical context, allowing participants to examine the use of brick, tile, and stone within an imperial urban setting.
An integral element of the educational programme is the participants’ presentations. Each participant is required to prepare and deliver a presentation related to the thematic focus of the activities on site, introducing a case study from their country of origin. This component connects the practical work undertaken during the programme with comparable heritage practices in different cultural and institutional contexts. Through this structured exchange, participants reflect on conservation approaches, management frameworks, and current challenges, contributing to a broader comparative understanding of heritage preservation. The presentations are intended to encourage critical dialogue, intercultural exchange, and the articulation of informed professional perspectives within an international group of emerging heritage practitioners.
The project will take place from August 31st to September 12th, 2026, and is organised by European Heritage Volunteers and the Burghauptmannschaft Österreich in collaboration with the Information and Training Centre for Heritage Conservation of the Federal Monument Authority of Austria.
