“Mum, Granny, back then, how did you actually ...?”

It’s hard enough to conceive of your own parents or grandparents having sex. But it’s even harder to imagine their contraceptive options at the time. A life without the pill, etc., is almost unthinkable for us, and previous (forbidden) abortion methods exceed even the worst we can imagine. It’s a good thing then that there is a unique collection on this subject at the MUVS! Since its foundation in 2003, around 2,560 objects and 1,280 books have been collected, and it did not take long for the first requests to start coming in for loan items for exhibitions, illustrative materials for presentations and “props” for films. Now, (other) museums of medical history and company archives also refer directly to us. We are almost always able to help, be it with metal knitting needles, which, as one can see, were once used for unplanned purposes, be it with packages of the very first pills, with calculation aids for determining one’s “safe” and less “safe” days, or with condom dryers. We can say with pride that what we don't have, probably no-one has.

These are cultural artefacts, cultural, medical and scientific developments that shape human life and co-existence, that form traditions and behaviours that influence fate. Time of birth and number of births can have more impact on one’s life path and on fulfilled or thwarted life plans than many other life circumstances. To document this, analyse it and make people aware of it is the mission our small museum has chosen for itself. In doing this work, we support social developments, promote integration and emancipation, and help to ensure that decisions are made consciously. The requests for loan items are thus just as good an indicator of the importance of our work as the numerous national and international awards we have received.

Below are some examples of exhibitions from recent years:

• “Jugendkultur und gesellschaftlicher Wandel in den 1960er Jahren” (Youth Culture and Social Change in the 1960s), exhibition at the Haus der Geschichte Baden-Württemberg (Germany)
• "Erfindergeist. Erfindungen aus Arbeit und Alltag” (Inventive Spirit. Inventions from Work and Everyday Life), exhibition at the Industriemuseum Lauf (Germany)
• “Im Bett. Episoden einer Zuflucht” (In Bed. Episodes of a Refuge), exhibition at the Universalmuseum Joanneum (Graz)
• “Erste Republik in der Steiermark” (The First Republic in Styria), exhibition at the Graz Museum
• “Meine Jugend/Deine Jugend – Eine Generation schreibt Geschichte” (My Youth/Your Youth – A Generation Makes History), exhibition at the Museum Niederösterreich
• “The Art of Reproduction”, interdisciplinary festival at the IMA Institute of Media Archaeology, St Pölten, Lower Austria
• “grenzen/los. Von Trennlinien und Überwindungen” (limit/less. Of Dividing Lines and Overcoming”, exhibition at the Museum Schloss Bruck (Lienz, East Tyrol)
• “Geburtskultur. Vom Gebären und geboren werden” (Birth Culture. Of Giving Birth and Being Born), exhibition at the Frauenmuseum Hittisau (Vorarlberg) and then in the Frauenmuseum Merano (South Tyrol)
• “Schalom Sisters*! Jüdisch-feministische Positionen” (Shalom Sisters*! Jewish-Feminist Positions), exhibition at the Jüdisches Museum Augsburg (Germany)
• “‘…Vor Schand und Noth gerettet’?! Findelhaus, Gebäranstalt und die Matriken der Alser Vorstadt” (‘…Saved from shame and hardship’?! Foundling Hospital, Lying-In Hospital and the Registers of Alser Vorstadt), exhibition at the Bezirksmuseum Josefstadt (Vienna)
• “Maria und der Paragraph” (Maria and the Paragraph), exhibition at the Münzenberg Forum Berlin
• “Medizin: Verhütung und Schwangerschaftsabbruch” (Medicine: Contraception and Abortion), exhibition at the Bezirksmuseum Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus (Vienna)
• “Love Me, Kosher. Liebe und Sexualität im Judentum” (Love Me, Kosher. Love and Sexuality in Judaism), exhibition at the Jüdisches Museum der Stadt Wien 
• “Schwangerschaftsabbruch früher und heute” (Abortion Past and Present), exhibition from the Bündnis für sexuelle Selbstbestimmung Münster (Münster Alliance for Sexual Autonomy) (Germany)
• “Archäologie der Moderne an Rhein und Ruhr” (Archaeology of the Modern Age on the Rhine and Ruhr), archaeology exhibition, Stiftung Ruhr Museum (Germany)
• “Werbung Wirkung Pharma. Von der Sammlung zur künstlerischen Auseinandersetzung” (Advertising Effect Pharma. From Collection to Artistic Debate), exhibition at the Pharmaziemuseum, Universität Basel (Switzerland)