By RAY KELLY
Vienna’s Third Man Museum, a labor of love for enthusiasts Gerhard Strassgschwandtner and Karin Höfler, is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary this fall.
Located at the corner of Pressgasse and Muehlgasse – just a short walk from the Vienna State Opera House, the Third Man Museum boasts 15 rooms with 3,000 original exhibits and documents.
The collection, began by Strassgschwandtner in 1998, includes 420 cover versions of the iconic Harry Lime Theme, the zither used by composer Anton Karas to record the film music, original scripts, cameras used on location in Vienna, a short screening with a projector from the time of its release in 1949 and even the cap that “Little Hansel” wore in the Carol Reed directed classic.
Written by Graham Greene and starring Joseph Cotten and Valli, The Third Man features a scene stealing performance by Orson Welles as Harry Lime, a morally bankrupt black marketeer working the angles in post-war Austria. The movie premiered more than 75 years ago, but still is a favorite among classic film lovers.
“The movie is still popular because it was excellently made. All of the people involved were at the height of their profession,” Strassgschwandtner said. “For me, it is the background of the film which made me go for it. Especially after I read In Search Of The Third Man by Charles Drazin (1999). I actually use The Third Man as a door opener into Vienna’s history before and after World War II.”
Seventy percent of the visitors to the Third Man Museum hail from the United States, Great Britain and Germany, he said. Viennese residents account for just 3 percent of the patrons as the movie was never a hit in Austria.
The museum is a two-person operation with Strassgschwandtner and Höfler handling all of the chores, from balancing the books to sweeping the floors.
“Karin and I founded the museum,” Strassgschwandtner said. “We do this completely on our own. No funding, no subsidies, no governmental institutions in our project – so we could and can create it as we want it to be.”
He added, ” There had been quite some challenges for us to run the museum. Now – since we actually got the whole project on the ground – the challenge is that I have to work quite a lot to keep it independent. But I met and got in contact with many people, some of them very special. That alone is worth a lot to me.”
Those interested in visiting the Third Man Museum can obtain further details online at 3mpc.net
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