The Noreia Monument (1929)
Photo: steirischer herbst / Dietmar Reinbacher
In 1929, the small, remote Styrian village of St. Margarethen am Silberberg saw itself renamed Noreia based on the assumption that in 113 BC, a legendary battle of the Teutons against the Romans and their allies, the Noric Celts, took place there. The Teutons won, thus entering the historical record for the first time.
After the fall of the Habsburg Empire in 1918, when Austria was searching for new pillars of nationhood, prominent Styrian archaeologist Walter Schmid (1875–1951) grew obsessed with Noreia. He supported plans to erect a towerlike, pro-Germanic monument in the nearby town of Neumarkt that was to be taller than its castle. The monument was strongly promoted by Karl Hartleb (1886–1965), vice-chancellor at the time, but never built. Schmid’s views were contested later, yet the Styrian Noreia is still on the map. Jan Peter Hammer’s film in the next room explores the past and present of this archeological and political muddle.
Noreia Monument, View from the Road (1929)
Sketch
Print on paper, ca. 25.8 × 43.5 cm
Private collection of Werner Fest / Historischer Arbeitskreis Neumarkter Hochtal