Cast Collection of the Department of Classical Studies at the Old Residence Salzburg – Creation of a Digital Collection and Virtual Tour

The project “Cast Collection of the Department of Classical Studies at the Old Residence Salzburg – Creation of a Digital Collection and Virtual Tour” focuses on digitising and making accessible a unique collection of 216 plaster casts. These casts, used as teaching materials for Classical Archaeology and Art History, are located in the so-called beer cellar of the Old Residence Salzburg. This historic space provides a distinctive setting for the display of the casts, which are unique in their composition within Austria. The collection includes works primarily acquired in the 1970s and features both well-known and rare reproductions of ancient artworks. Due to planned renovations in the Old Residence starting in October 2025, the collection will be inaccessible to the public and for study purposes for several years. (The renovation of the premises has been postponed for the time being due to political reasons.) To ensure sustainable access to the collection, a project for its digitalisation and virtual presentation has been initiated. The aim is to employ innovative digital methods to make the collection available as Open Educational Resources (OER) for research and teaching while also bringing the cultural significance of classical antiquity closer to a wider audience. 

About the Project 

The project includes several key steps: 

• Consolidation and homogenisation of all digital data: Existing catalogue texts, photos, and metadata are consolidated and homogenised in an extended Filemaker database. This database serves as the foundation for the digital collection and will be imported into the ALMA library software hosted by the University Library Salzburg. 

• Creation of a virtual tour: With the help of 360° camera recordings and the H5P software, a virtual tour of the collection is being developed. This tour allows users to explore the collection digitally and experience the objects in their spatial context. The model will be made publicly accessible as a SCORM package on a research repository (Zenodo).

• Linking the digital collection with the virtual tour: The digital objects of the collection will be linked to the virtual tour, enabling users to access detailed information about individual casts directly within the tour. 

The digitisation is carried out in close collaboration with the University Library Salzburg and the Department of Geoinformatics. High-resolution 360° camera images are being captured specifically for this project using a newly acquired camera. The project’s results will be published on the ePLUS platform and will be publicly searchable. In the long term, the digital collection will be expanded with additional components such as 3D scans, archival history, and a learning app.