Freilichtmuseum: Open-air Museums in Austria
Article by Nicole Rabitsch
Open-air museums usually offer information about a certain area - normally about rural culture, folk customs and traditions. Most of them feature old farmhouses that were gathered in a province or area, destructed and re-built in a traditional setting.
The old farmhouses were then equipped with all the gimmicks you would expect from an Alpine 19th-or-so-century. Open-air museums were originally built after Austrians discovered their rural heritage in the early 20th century (this is also when urban Austrians started to wear "Tracht" or traditional clothing).
These days, open-air museums are popular with both domestic visitors and international tourists. Therefore I′m going to give an overview of the most important open-air museums in Austria:
Burgenland
Freilichtmuseum Bad Tatzmannsdorf
Freilichtmuseum Ensemble Gerersdorf
Dorfmuseum Mönchhof
Carinthia
Freilichtmuseum Maria Saal
Lower Austria
Museum für Urgeschichte, Asparn an der Zaya
Weinviertler Museumsdorf, Niedersulz
Archäologisches Freilichtmuseum Carnuntum
Bauernhofmuseum Lanzenkirchen
Niederösterreichisches Freilichtmuseum , Stadt Haag
Upper Austria
Freilichtmuseum Stehrerhof, Neukirchen an der Vöckla
Freilichtmuseum Sumerauerhof, St. Florian
Museumsdorf Trattenbach
Freilichtmuseum Brunnbauerhof, Großpichl bei Andorf
Mondseer Rauchhaus
Salzburg
Salzburger Freilichtmuseum, Großgmain
Styria
Österreichisches Freilichtmuseum, Stübing bei Graz
Urgeschichtliches Freilichtmuseum der Steiermark, Kulm bei Weiz
Bauernhausmuseum Herk, Freiland bei Deutschlandsberg
Freilichtmuseum Vorau
Tyrol
Ötztaler Heimat- und Freilichtmuseum, Längenfeld
Museum Tiroler Bauernhöfe, Kramsach
Wildschönauer Bergbauernmuseum z′Bach, Niederau in der Wildschönau
Back to "sightseeing"
Further Reading
Customs & Traditions of Austria
