Introduction

Mustafa G., textile worker in Dornbirn.
Mustafa G., textile worker in Dornbirn.
Vielfaltenarchiv

Industrialization transformed society as it required lots and lots of manpower, that a local community usually wasn't able to provide by itself. Masses of people moved from their homes to the new industrial centers. Poverty pushed and hope for a job pulled people to industrial centers such as Dornbirn, the so called Manchester of the Rhine Valley, with it's textile industry. This started during the 19th century with people form all parts of the Austro-Hungary Empire moving in, many of them from italian speaking Trentino. During 20th century, after the breakdown of the empire and the period of the "Wirtschaftswunder" after the Second World war migration continued. Foreign workers came from Alto Adige (South Tirol), the Sudetenland as well as Carinthia and Styria. During the fifties and sixties local industries urged for cheap labour and so the Austrian government signed treaties with Yugoslavia and Turkey, enabling the so called "Gastarbeiter" ("guest workers") to work and live in Austria. In this Quest you will find out about their history and experiences and create your own virtual tour about migrants in your region.

Task

Weaving Mill, F. M. Hämmerle. The company employed a lot of people from Turkey.
Weaving Mill, F. M. Hämmerle. The company employed a lot of people from Turkey.
Stadtarchiv Dornbirn

In this task you should work together with others to explore, research and document peoples living conditions in your region and tell their stories by creating a virtual heritage trail. You will gather information on the living conditions of industrial workers, especially migrant workers using the internet, local archives, libraries, museums and even by doing interviews with people you might know. Once you have all your information gathered you can come up with a interesting story or theme to tell, creating virtual stations for visitors to explore.

Process

Gather a group of 3 or 4 people, as this task requires many steps - determine who is going to be responsible for each part. You should start by looking at the given examples and then search the internet about “Migration” and your region. You can then visit archives,, museums and libraries to find out more. Come up with a story you want to tell. If you can - ask workers you know about their experiences - you could ask them about places where they lived, where they worked and how they spent their leisure time and what they meant to them. Ask them for photographs, record interviews - give them a voice. Create a storyboard for all the stations you want to create, detailing which resources you are going to use for each and what story you want to tell at each station. Learn how to use a 360 camera and find a suitable platform for your tour. Create the stations with your collected material - use collected photos, interviews, sounds and add your own narration.

 

Conclusion

Understanding a local community, it's story and it's living conditions is precious knowledge. Being able to gather information on it and to bring it together in a coherent narrative, told on a virtual platform helps to preserve its memory. You are now able to weave together the old and the new, bringing history to live.

Evaluation

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge Acquired

  • You will have learned about the history of Turkish migrant community in Dornbirn, their living and working conditions.
  • You will get to know some of Dornbirns Landmarks, their history and how the perspective on them changes depending on your social and economic status in society.

Skills Acquired

  • You will be able to do research in libraries, museums, archives and the internet.
  • You will be able write a storyboard.
  • You will be able to convert your knowledge and your collected material into a virtual tour.

Competences Acquired

  • You will be able to do research about your local community.
  • You will be able to create a compelling story told in a virtual environment.