In the Stone Age, people still had a cooperative relationship with wolves. People shared living space and food. That changed when people settled down and started raising livestock. In addition to the food from the forest, the so-called farm animals were easy prey for the wolf. This is likely to be the trigger for the hostility between humans and wolves, which reached its peak with the extinction of wolves in Central Europe. With the return of the wolf to our densely populated cultural landscape, it is once more increasingly perceived as a threat and is being fought once morest, although the threat statistics paint a different picture: that of an extremely shy and withdrawn animal.
The idea of the “bad wolf” goes back to ancient times and even further. The animistic idea of the wolf as a power animal was largely lost. In contrast, the myth of the werewolf gained space in people’s minds. Overall, the “bad wolf” has a long cultural and historical tradition in Europe. The exhibition in the Linz Castle Museum examines the question of where the fear of wolves comes from and traces it in part to the Thirty Years’ War, when wolves attacked the fallen soldiers on the battlefields due to a lack of food in the plundered forests. Exhibition curator Mona Horncastle also sheds light on the often neglected positive effects of wolves on the ecosystem. The cultural scientist not only presents the carnivore’s multi-level food pyramid in the form of stuffed animals – from the shrew to the elk – but also brought together works by more than 20 artists to create an educational space around the wolf. Between fascination and horror, a large space opens up in the castle museum in the truest sense of the word. It remains to be hoped that this will also open up the public discussion regarding so-called risk or problem wolves that need to be shot down mercilessly. We recommend visiting the exhibition as part of a guided tour.
Exhibition “From Spirit Animal to Fear Animal – Cultural History of the Wolf”, Linz Castle Museum, December 13, 2023 to September 1, 2024
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Author
Klaus Buttinger
Editor magazine
Klaus Buttinger
