Permanent Collection

Between the fifthteenth and eighteenth century, Styria was almost constantly faced with hostilities from Ottoman Troops and Hungarian rebels. The province reacted by positioning its own forces. The headquarters for their equipment was the armoury. The collection of today's Styrian Armoury, common known as the "Landschaftliche Zeughaus" that was built in 1642-1647, has grown over four centuries. The weapons and armour were produced by Styrian, Carinthian and Upper Austrian workshops, but were also purchased from the major German armourers in Augsburg, Nuremberg and Suhl.

Today the Styrian Armoury contents 32, 000 objects:

Defensive arms (suits of armour, helmets, shields, chain mail)

Fire arms (rifles, pistols)

Accessories (powder flasks, priming powder flasks, bullet moulds, cartridge boxes, holsters, wheellock spanners, bullet tongs, etc.)

Edged weapons (two-handed swords, hand-and-a-half swords, swords, sabres, pallashes, estocs, cavalry broadswords, bayonets)

Polearms (halberds, pikes, partisans, couses, morning stars, etc.)

Artillery (wall-pieces cannons, mortars)

Rocket-making equipment

Ammunition

The uniqueness of the Styrian Armoury is due to the way its exhibits are stored. The collection conveys the atmosphere of an original seventeenth-century arsenal.