Museum seeks names for photos of Yugoslav guest workers

The Dornbirn City Museum is seeking names and personal stories connected to photographs of guest workers from the former Yugoslavia, ORF reported. The museum displayed some of the images at Dornbirn railway station as part of its mobile exhibition.

The photographs were taken about 60 years ago for company archives. Many of the people pictured remain unidentified, and the museum hopes relatives, friends or former colleagues will recognise them.

Historian Barbara Motter of the Dornbirn City Museum said the images were taken in Dornbirn, including at the Hämmerle company, and at Getzner in Bludenz. The museum is asking for help identifying the people and learning about their experiences, including how they arrived, where they first lived and what their early years in Dornbirn were like.

The appeal was part of Kultur am Bahnhof, a programme held four times a year at the railway station. The event included circus performances, live music and the mobile museum exhibition, which presented the guest-worker photographs.

About 6 percent of Vorarlberg’s population, or around 25,000 people, have a family connection to the former Yugoslavia. Renate Fussenegger, who came to Austria at the age of 18 to work, told visitors about her own experience. She said F.M. Rhomberg organised her journey by bus to Dornbirn in 1968. She went on to work for 40 years and raise a family there.

Wilfried Klocker, a 96-year-old from Dornbirn, also shared his memories. His former company had tasked him with recruiting workers in the former Yugoslavia. Finding accommodation was difficult, he said, and some workers initially stayed in two or three rooms rented at the Hatlerdorf animal shelter.

Several people were identified in the photographs during the event. The next Kultur am Bahnhof programme is scheduled for October 9, 2026, from noon to 5 p.m. at Dornbirn railway station.