Page - 84 - in Nikola Tesla and the Graz Tech

84 Discussions on the legal form of the Joanneum had already taken place when the statute of 17 December 1866 was adopted. In the interwar period, howev- er, this question became a pressing one in so far as the financial plight of the country gave rise to considerations to sell objects of the Joanneum collection or to use their value as cover for credit operations. In this context, curator Dr. Max von Archer wrote a memorandum in which the legal character of the Joanneum was proven to be a foundation and thus the inviolability and inalien- ability of its holdings was demonstrated. An important organisational change took place in 1936, when the secretary of the board of trustees, who according to the organic statute of 1887 had to manage the administrative business of the departments on behalf of the board of trustees, was appointed not only director of the institute by the state government, but also at the same time as head of the newly established de- partment of art and science. In addition, in 1938 the board of trustees was not reconvened after the end of its term of office. After the war, the old state before 1936 was restored, when the state govern- ment transferred the management of the organisation to a newly constituted board of trustees. However, the fact that the state government had close ties to the top management and administration of the museum directly sub- ordinated to it is shown by the fact that until 1957 the active cultural official of the state government was also on the board of trustees of the Joanneum. From 1962, the secretary of the board of trustees was again appoint- ed head of legal department 6, which was responsible for art and culture. The latter now exercised the competences he was entitled to as secretary of the board of trustees. These included above all the preparation of the budget for the Joanneum and the personnel management of the organi- sation – only in his position as head of legal department 6. After his retire- ment, these powers were not passed on to the new secretary of the board of trustees or to the director reinstated in 1970, but remained within the remit of legal department 6. As a result, the State Museum Joanneum lost its direct link to the state government, which had always existed, and instead became a subordinate department for the next 33 years.