Cowbells, the Berliner Hütte in the Zillertal valley, glacier trash, and a statue of Saint Nicholas—all of these things are connected by the Tyrolean mountain landscape. The mountains shape the lives of the people in Tyrol, and vice versa: the people leave their mark on the mountains themselves. Whether it’s the daily threat of avalanches, the annual cattle drive to the alpine pastures, glacier ski resorts, or cable car rides, the relationships between people and mountains are diverse.
Image gallery
Tiroler Postkarten aus der Sammlung des MEK
The exhibition uses historical objects and contemporary perspectives, voices, and media to tell the story of these diverse relationships. Songs, film clips, and interviews invite visitors to delve deeper.
The exhibition breaks with the cliché of the isolated, “idyllic” mountain world: Tyrol and its mountains are a cultural hub between northern and southern Europe, between local knowledge and global challenges such as climate change, overtourism, and resource scarcity. Together with partner institutions from Tyrol and Berlin, a complex, even contradictory picture of the region is developed.
Beyond the visual
The exhibition invites visitors to experience mountains in a new way – with their heads, hearts, and hands. Hands-on stations encourage visitors to get involved: they can touch resources such as salt, Swiss pine, and flax, play games, take a selfie as a “Salontiroler” (urban tourist), or make their own mountain collages.An audio guide takes visitors through the exhibition and provides background information on many of the stories and objects. In addition to the classic objects and texts, interviews also reveal how people in Tyrol view these topics.
European Culture Days 2026
To coincide with the exhibition opening, the European Culture Days dedicated to Tyrol and organised by the MEK will also take place from 26 July to 23 August 2026. The four-week program packed with concerts, readings, culinary events, and discussions offers the opportunity to explore the exhibition’s themes in greater depth and engage in conversation with Tyrolean experts.- A cooperation between the Museum Europäischer Kulturen and the Tiroler Volkskunstmuseum, the Ötztaler Museen, the Institut für Geschichtswissenschaften und Empirische Kulturwissenschaft at the University of Innsbruck, the Österreichischer Alpenverein, the Sektion Berlin des Deutschen Alpenvereins as well as the Österreichisches Kulturforum Berlin.
- A special exhibition of the Museum Europäischer Kulturen – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
