New Bible centre in cultural heart of Vienna

VIENNA, Austria — A new building being constructed by the Austrian Bible Society is set to bring the Bible into the cultural heart of Vienna. Located within the city’s museum area, the Bible centre is intended to be a cultural attraction in its own right, both for its architecture and its contents.

The old Bible House in central Vienna had served the Bible Society well since the 1950s, but a few years ago it became clear that maintenance costs were beyond the Society’s means. Just as the Society was considering where it needed to be located in order to carry out future Bible work most effectively, a clearly identifiable museum area was emerging in Vienna. The Society was keen to exploit the potential of an area which was beginning to attract large numbers of locals and tourists, but could not do so without financial support from a partner. This support came in the form of an investment company which was looking to develop a new building next to the old Bible House and was willing to purchase the site as part of the development.

The Bible Society, currently operating from temporary premises, will own the ground floor of an architecturally innovative building in the museum area which is due for completion towards the end of this year. With the departure from the old Bible House has come a shift in focus: in order to cut costs, the bookshop has closed down, while more resources will be devoted to working with the churches to raise funds and to encourage interaction with the Bible. During this transition period, one key area of fundraising is the new Bible centre itself.

After its official opening in March 2005, one of the main ways in which the new Bible centre will bring the Bible directly to people who flock to the museum area will be through an interactive multilingual exhibition. It is also hoped to raise sufficient funds to place in the front windows of the centre an installation which will use light and movement to promote the Bible very visibly throughout the day and night.

The imminent move to the new Bible centre will be the fulfilment of a vision which was expressed by General Secretary Dr Jutta Henner in September 2000 when the Society celebrated 150 years of organised Bible work in Austria (see Latest News #120). “Our aim,” she explained then, “is to build a Bible centre so that we can invite many of these people [visitors to the museum area] to discover the Bible’s answers for their life.” (WR 385/23 - 4/5.04)