Page - 85 - in Nikola Tesla and the Graz Tech

85 Seen diachronically, the Joanneum had come to a dead end in its organisa- tional development, similar to the 1860s. The dynamics emanating from the organic statute of 1887 had ebbed away in a similar way to the momentum of the founding years. New paths had to be taken. At the end of the 1980s, the first concrete steps were taken to remedy this unsatisfactory situation. After many years of discussion, the Joanneum staff developed a new organisational structure for the whole museum, regulating internal organisational relationships and processes, and a presentation form for its collections that meets modern requirements. The concept for the per- manent exhibitions and the space concept were finally completed in 1997, and the first important steps could be taken in their realisation. At the beginning of the 1990s, a search for a new legal form for the Joanneum was undertaken. A Joanneum committee was set up by the state government to draw up a proposal for the establishment of a private company form, namely a limited liability company. In 1993, this committee presented a final concept including the necessary draft treaties and a proposal for the necessary amendment of the state constitution. Since, however, the State of Styria had only just car- ried out the spin-off of the provincial hospitals into a limited liability company and this project had not proceeded as seamlessly as expected, especially in personnel matters, the reform of the Joanneum was not further implement- ed. The discussion process of the early nineties finally led to the result that in 1995 the State Museum Joanneum was elevated to a separate department of the office of the Styrian state government with direct subordination to the state government and the ability to make at least partially autonomous de- cisions. The director of the Joanneum was thus also the head of the State Museum Joanneum department.