Harry Hauck is an object scenographer and exhibition planner with over thirty years of experience in international museum projects. Clemens Kritzer and Stephan Ebert are mountmakers and project managers at ADAPTIV Exhibition Setup Vienna, specializing for years in object mountings and exhibit mounts for museums. Together, they developed KLIO Mount Systems, a modular mounting system for object installation in museums and exhibitions. We spoke with them about the origin of the system, its design, and its practical application.
Harry, you have worked with museums around the world for decades. For a long time, what was the biggest unresolved challenge in object mounting?
Harry Hauck: The question of how to support an object so that the mount remains invisible has occupied museums ever since professional exhibiting began. What was missing for a long time was a systematic answer. There was experience, there was craftsmanship, there were bespoke single solutions. But there was no reproducible system. Every project started from scratch. And on large-scale projects with hundreds or thousands of objects, that quickly becomes a genuine problem.
Harry Hauck
The fundamental objective has never changed: the eye must not be caught by anything. Not by the lighting, not by the text, and certainly not by the mount. An object should ideally exist purely within the volume of its display case, allowing it to be viewed, quite literally, without obstruction. That is the standard. What was missing for a long time was a system capable of meeting this standard even when hundreds of objects are mounted consecutively within a single workflow.
Clemens and Stephan, what was your practical experience before KLIO existed?
Stephan Ebert: Acrylic rods, heat guns, bent wires, black paint. The mounts simply did not look good. Not due to a lack of diligence, but because nothing better was available. Every mountmaker or exhibition technician had their own methods, meaning every project had its own custom solutions. None of it was truly transferable.
Clemens Kritzer: Additionally, the structural nature of modern display cases has fundamentally changed. Consider the Oddy test or the BEMMA scheme: stricter material requirements in museum practice have led to MDF largely disappearing from display cases. Most are now made of steel or aluminum, but you cannot simply insert a wire into a steel plate—it sags and provides no hold. And then you are standing in front of a display case intended for twenty objects without a functioning solution.
How did the development of KLIO begin?
Clemens Kritzer: The initial impulse came during a project at the Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Dresden. There, in the permanent exhibition, we saw stainless steel mounts based on a mounting socket principle for the first time. I had never worked with stainless steel before; that was in 2011. What we saw was not a finished solution, but a direction. The actual development began later at the Weltmuseum Wien.
Harry Hauck: And at the Weltmuseum Wien, full circle was reached: Clemens, Stephan, and I met there. I was the originator of those mounts at the Military History Museum in Dresden, and at the Weltmuseum, I served as planner, designer, and object supervisor for the aforementioned permanent exhibition project. In this role, I had specified and sketched solutions with or without sockets for mount fabrication, and together we initiated a highly productive collaboration to develop these solutions. The project was several months behind schedule, raising the urgent question of how the enormous number of 3,000 objects could be mounted into display cases swiftly, securely, and elegantly.
Stephan Ebert: We then began by developing sockets for inserting the mounting rods. This is a receiver element screwed into the back panel to hold the rod: insert the rod and secure it with a set screw. And while developing the socket, the next realization emerged:Â
Stephan Ebert
If the claw element holding the object can also be attached modularly at the front—thus separating the object interface from the rod—the challenge is solved. Three separable components instead of a single continuous mount. With this, the fundamental principle of KLIO was born: separating the three functions of an object mount. This provided complete flexibility for installation workflows and laid the foundation for serial, industrial production.
What does this principle mean in practice? You refer to them as TOP, LINK, and BASE?
TOP
Clemens Kritzer: TOP is the direct interface to the object. These are blanks that are individually customized to the geometry of the exhibit—bent, sprung, and adjusted. The finest wires we use measure well below one millimeter in diameter. From the front, visual impact is minimized.
BASE is a socket serving as the anchor for the entire assembly, installed into the display case, plinth, or wall to receive all components. It is reusable and compatible with wood, metal, and all structurally sound materials.
BASE
LINK
LINK connects both parts at any required length. Rods and connectors in diverse lengths and angles determine the object's offset from the rear panel, its tilt, and its spatial orientation. LINK allows an entire group of exhibits to be mounted at identical offsets. This represents a significant advantage, particularly in large-scale projects featuring numerous uniform objects.
Harry Hauck: Beyond its elegance and functionality, what particularly convinces me about this principle is its impact on exhibition installation workflows. The modular separation of functional components within the mount allows primary installation steps to be clearly separated. Conservation-sensitive object mounting—the delicate fitting directly on the artifact—is decoupled both spatially and chronologically from mechanical mount installation inside the display case. These steps occur sequentially in controlled environments rather than simultaneously on site. This separation significantly enhances artifact safety during installation, keeping delicate objects away from heavy mechanical work inside cases involving machinery, drilling, dust, and swarf. Furthermore, standardizing these workflows makes the entire installation process more efficient and cost-effective.
Another critical aspect for me is serviceability. All mount components can be easily disassembled, allowing the object to be removed gently at any time. When required, objects can be safely deinstalled during ongoing museum operations, facilitating loan rotations, exhibition modifications, and rapid, secure deinstallation.
Where does the system demonstrate its greatest strength in practice?
Clemens Kritzer
Clemens Kritzer: Following the layout mockup. That is the pivotal moment everything leads up to. A layout mockup is one of the most communication-intensive stages in exhibition installation. Designers, curators, and conservators must agree on the exact placement, height, offset, and orientation of every single object. It requires time and focus, but it is indispensable.
Stephan Ebert: Once the layout is approved, KLIO delivers its full efficiency. Drill points are marked, sockets are screwed in, rods are inserted, and objects are mounted and secured. The process is rapid. Rod too long? Cut it down and reinsert it. Object needs to sit further forward? Swap in a longer rod. The system accommodates adjustments without requiring a complete restart.
Harry Hauck: On large-scale projects, we project the finalized layout directly onto the display case rear panel using a projector. Drill points are placed precisely to plan before a single object enters the gallery. The artifacts have already been fitted with their TOP mounts in separate prep rooms and stored systematically in foam blocks on carts and in crates. In the exhibition hall, only one final step remains: insertion and fastening.
At the Military History Museum in Dresden, with its 10,000 exhibits, I had previously utilized a serial-modular approach to prepare thousands of mounts in advance and save critical time. Fitting out the cases took a fraction of the time required by conventional methods. KLIO has advanced this principle significantly, refining it to absolute precision.
KLIO now exists as a dedicated system with its own shop and brand name. How did that evolve?
Clemens Kritzer: It evolved organically over many years and across numerous projects. What we discovered in Dresden, we refined in Vienna. What proved suboptimal in Vienna, we adapted for the next project. Every exhibition contributed refinements: new object geometries, new display case designs, and new conservatorial specifications. The system evolved with every deployment.
Stephan Ebert: Throughout this process, the core concept remained constant: three separable levels, standardized connections, and full serviceability across all components. This creates a standardized system that retains substantial adaptability during execution. It has proven its value across projects of all scales. Eventually, it became clear that our developments held value beyond our own operations—that other mountmakers, exhibition technicians, and cultural institutions could benefit from them. What began as an internal workflow evolved into KLIO Mount Systems, which we now distribute directly through our shop.
In conclusion: How would you describe KLIO in a single sentence?
Harry Hauck: An answer to a question museums have faced since their inception: How do you create a system that is fully serviceable—accommodating object rotations and non-destructive deinstallation—modular and efficient enough to manage large-scale exhibitions, yet visually unobtrusive enough that only the object and its narrative remain in focus?
Clemens Kritzer: Born out of necessity, much like most practical innovations: a system that structures and streamlines installation workflows while delivering precisely what every superior mount must provide—as delicate as possible, as secure as necessary.
Stephan Ebert: To me, it is above all a transferable system. Instead of reinventing the wheel for every artifact, you configure components proven across thousands of applications.
The KLIO Mount System is a modular mounting system for professional object installation in museums and exhibitions, developed by ADAPTIV Exhibition Setup Vienna in close collaboration with object scenographer Harry Hauck, Berlin. For objects meant to be seen—not their mounts.
Born out of necessity, refined into a principle – exhibit holders for museums, reimagined
Harry Hauck is an object scenographer and exhibition planner with over thirty years of experience in international museum projects. Clemens Kritzer and Stephan Ebert are mountmakers and project managers at ADAPTIV Exhibition Setup Vienna, specializing for years in object mountings and exhibit mounts for museums. Together, they developed KLIO Mount Systems, a modular mounting system for object installation in museums and exhibitions. We spoke with them about the origin of the system, its design, and its practical application.
Harry, you have worked with museums around the world for decades. For a long time, what was the biggest unresolved challenge in object mounting?
Harry Hauck: The question of how to support an object so that the mount remains invisible has occupied museums ever since professional exhibiting began. What was missing for a long time was a systematic answer. There was experience, there was craftsmanship, there were bespoke single solutions. But there was no reproducible system. Every project started from scratch. And on large-scale projects with hundreds or thousands of objects, that quickly becomes a genuine problem.
The fundamental objective has never changed: the eye must not be caught by anything. Not by the lighting, not by the text, and certainly not by the mount. An object should ideally exist purely within the volume of its display case, allowing it to be viewed, quite literally, without obstruction. That is the standard. What was missing for a long time was a system capable of meeting this standard even when hundreds of objects are mounted consecutively within a single workflow.
Clemens and Stephan, what was your practical experience before KLIO existed?
Stephan Ebert: Acrylic rods, heat guns, bent wires, black paint. The mounts simply did not look good. Not due to a lack of diligence, but because nothing better was available. Every mountmaker or exhibition technician had their own methods, meaning every project had its own custom solutions. None of it was truly transferable.
Clemens Kritzer: Additionally, the structural nature of modern display cases has fundamentally changed. Consider the Oddy test or the BEMMA scheme: stricter material requirements in museum practice have led to MDF largely disappearing from display cases. Most are now made of steel or aluminum, but you cannot simply insert a wire into a steel plate—it sags and provides no hold. And then you are standing in front of a display case intended for twenty objects without a functioning solution.
How did the development of KLIO begin?
Clemens Kritzer: The initial impulse came during a project at the Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Dresden. There, in the permanent exhibition, we saw stainless steel mounts based on a mounting socket principle for the first time. I had never worked with stainless steel before; that was in 2011. What we saw was not a finished solution, but a direction. The actual development began later at the Weltmuseum Wien.
Harry Hauck: And at the Weltmuseum Wien, full circle was reached: Clemens, Stephan, and I met there. I was the originator of those mounts at the Military History Museum in Dresden, and at the Weltmuseum, I served as planner, designer, and object supervisor for the aforementioned permanent exhibition project. In this role, I had specified and sketched solutions with or without sockets for mount fabrication, and together we initiated a highly productive collaboration to develop these solutions. The project was several months behind schedule, raising the urgent question of how the enormous number of 3,000 objects could be mounted into display cases swiftly, securely, and elegantly.
Stephan Ebert: We then began by developing sockets for inserting the mounting rods. This is a receiver element screwed into the back panel to hold the rod: insert the rod and secure it with a set screw. And while developing the socket, the next realization emerged:Â
If the claw element holding the object can also be attached modularly at the front—thus separating the object interface from the rod—the challenge is solved. Three separable components instead of a single continuous mount. With this, the fundamental principle of KLIO was born: separating the three functions of an object mount. This provided complete flexibility for installation workflows and laid the foundation for serial, industrial production.
What does this principle mean in practice? You refer to them as TOP, LINK, and BASE?
Clemens Kritzer: TOP is the direct interface to the object. These are blanks that are individually customized to the geometry of the exhibit—bent, sprung, and adjusted. The finest wires we use measure well below one millimeter in diameter. From the front, visual impact is minimized.
BASE is a socket serving as the anchor for the entire assembly, installed into the display case, plinth, or wall to receive all components. It is reusable and compatible with wood, metal, and all structurally sound materials.
LINK connects both parts at any required length. Rods and connectors in diverse lengths and angles determine the object's offset from the rear panel, its tilt, and its spatial orientation. LINK allows an entire group of exhibits to be mounted at identical offsets. This represents a significant advantage, particularly in large-scale projects featuring numerous uniform objects.
Harry Hauck: Beyond its elegance and functionality, what particularly convinces me about this principle is its impact on exhibition installation workflows. The modular separation of functional components within the mount allows primary installation steps to be clearly separated. Conservation-sensitive object mounting—the delicate fitting directly on the artifact—is decoupled both spatially and chronologically from mechanical mount installation inside the display case. These steps occur sequentially in controlled environments rather than simultaneously on site. This separation significantly enhances artifact safety during installation, keeping delicate objects away from heavy mechanical work inside cases involving machinery, drilling, dust, and swarf. Furthermore, standardizing these workflows makes the entire installation process more efficient and cost-effective.
Another critical aspect for me is serviceability. All mount components can be easily disassembled, allowing the object to be removed gently at any time. When required, objects can be safely deinstalled during ongoing museum operations, facilitating loan rotations, exhibition modifications, and rapid, secure deinstallation.
Where does the system demonstrate its greatest strength in practice?
Clemens Kritzer: Following the layout mockup. That is the pivotal moment everything leads up to. A layout mockup is one of the most communication-intensive stages in exhibition installation. Designers, curators, and conservators must agree on the exact placement, height, offset, and orientation of every single object. It requires time and focus, but it is indispensable.
Stephan Ebert: Once the layout is approved, KLIO delivers its full efficiency. Drill points are marked, sockets are screwed in, rods are inserted, and objects are mounted and secured. The process is rapid. Rod too long? Cut it down and reinsert it. Object needs to sit further forward? Swap in a longer rod. The system accommodates adjustments without requiring a complete restart.
Harry Hauck: On large-scale projects, we project the finalized layout directly onto the display case rear panel using a projector. Drill points are placed precisely to plan before a single object enters the gallery. The artifacts have already been fitted with their TOP mounts in separate prep rooms and stored systematically in foam blocks on carts and in crates. In the exhibition hall, only one final step remains: insertion and fastening.
At the Military History Museum in Dresden, with its 10,000 exhibits, I had previously utilized a serial-modular approach to prepare thousands of mounts in advance and save critical time. Fitting out the cases took a fraction of the time required by conventional methods. KLIO has advanced this principle significantly, refining it to absolute precision.
KLIO now exists as a dedicated system with its own shop and brand name. How did that evolve?
Clemens Kritzer: It evolved organically over many years and across numerous projects. What we discovered in Dresden, we refined in Vienna. What proved suboptimal in Vienna, we adapted for the next project. Every exhibition contributed refinements: new object geometries, new display case designs, and new conservatorial specifications. The system evolved with every deployment.
Stephan Ebert: Throughout this process, the core concept remained constant: three separable levels, standardized connections, and full serviceability across all components. This creates a standardized system that retains substantial adaptability during execution. It has proven its value across projects of all scales.
Eventually, it became clear that our developments held value beyond our own operations—that other mountmakers, exhibition technicians, and cultural institutions could benefit from them. What began as an internal workflow evolved into KLIO Mount Systems, which we now distribute directly through our shop.
In conclusion: How would you describe KLIO in a single sentence?
Harry Hauck: An answer to a question museums have faced since their inception: How do you create a system that is fully serviceable—accommodating object rotations and non-destructive deinstallation—modular and efficient enough to manage large-scale exhibitions, yet visually unobtrusive enough that only the object and its narrative remain in focus?
Clemens Kritzer: Born out of necessity, much like most practical innovations: a system that structures and streamlines installation workflows while delivering precisely what every superior mount must provide—as delicate as possible, as secure as necessary.
Stephan Ebert: To me, it is above all a transferable system. Instead of reinventing the wheel for every artifact, you configure components proven across thousands of applications.
The KLIO Mount System is a modular mounting system for professional object installation in museums and exhibitions, developed by ADAPTIV Exhibition Setup Vienna in close collaboration with object scenographer Harry Hauck, Berlin. For objects meant to be seen—not their mounts.