Kindheit im Wandel

The exhibition highlights the diverse facets of childhood – from education, learning, and play to work, nutrition, and medical care – and shows how childhood has changed over generations. Educational focuses differed for girls and boys even within their social class. Bourgeois boys were trained for their role as providers and protectors of the family, while girls were prepared for their tasks as mother, wife, and housekeeper. This began at a young age with the provision of gender-specific toys. "A look into children's eyes is a journey into the past. We often wish for our children a childhood like the one we experienced ourselves. But the world is changing. The exhibition takes us back to the time of Peter Rosegger and depicts, in a slightly romanticized and humorous way, the everyday life of that era. Topics such as clothing, medicine, nutrition, and education reflect the changes that children experienced then and now. It is particularly exciting to see how childhood has changed over generations," said director Marko Mele about the exhibition. 
 
Curator Russ-Panhofer: "The history of childhood is inseparably linked with Peter Rosegger. He not only dealt intensively with education, schooling, and the neglect of children, but also made suggestions on how to do better. The exhibition sheds light on childhood in all its facets – then and now. It shows the changes and challenges that children experience in the digital world. Perhaps it also encourages us to pause and consider how far digitalization should go."