Location: 15 km (10 mi) North of Graz Map
Area: 66 ha
Tel (03124) 53700
Open: Apr- Oct: 9am- 5pm Tue- Sun (1 May- 15 Sep: daily)
Stubing is an Austrian open air ethnographic settlement designed and constructed under supervision of Professor Viktor Herbert Pottler. The Austrian Open- Air Museum in Stubing was started in 1962, although first plan to organize ethnographic museum was proposed as early as 1908 by Rudolf Meringer. Only the second half of the 20th century these projects were realized. Several local building, artifacts and other examples of Austrian rural life were brought in a signgle area in this artificial village. Today Stubing Open Air Museum covers a total area of 60 hectares. It includes numerous traditional Austrian buildings that characteristic of rural areas. Some of the building date back to the 17th century. You can 2- 3 hours exploring the museum. Additionally you can venture into hilly forests that surround Stubbing to get a true feeling of the rural life in Austria.
The Stübing open-air museum is located in a small side valley of the
Middle Mur Valley in Styria, about 10 kilometers north-west of the
provincial capital Graz. It is located directly on the border of the two
market towns of Deutschfeistritz and Gratwein-Straßengel, with the
municipal border running right through the museum grounds. Directly to
the east of the museum entrance is the L 334 state road, the Gratweiner
Straße, which connects the village of Kleinstübing with the market town
of Gratwein. The eponymous village of Kleinstübing is about 2 kilometers
north, while the settlement of Au, which belongs to Gratwein-Straßengel,
is about 1.2 kilometers southwest of the museum. The museum itself
belongs to the scattered settlement of Enzenbach in the market town of
Gratwein-Straßengel.
The museum grounds are located in the valley
of the Enzenbach, which runs from southwest to northeast and opens into
the Murtal in the northeast. The Enzenbach flows into the Mur about 50
meters after leaving the open-air museum. The area is bordered by the
Pfaffenkogel in the north and by the Gsollerkogel in the south. The
museum is located in the Pfaffenkogel-Gsollerkogel nature reserve.
Since 2003, a section of the Grazer Umland-Weg (GUW) run by the
Naturefriends has led across the site, according to the Graz local group
the only long-distance hiking trail that crosses a museum. However, the
passage is only possible in the ascent from east to west, since the gate
in the western part of the museum can only be opened outwards.
The museum grounds cover an area of around 65 hectares and stretch
over a length of around 1.4 kilometers through the valley of the
Enzenbach. There are 101 objects on the site, mainly farms, but also
farm and religious buildings together with their inventory or household
goods. The buildings come from all Austrian federal states, with the
exception of Vienna, and from South Tyrol. This is a collection of
original historical buildings, but also replicas and reconstructions. In
total, the buildings cover a period of six centuries. The original
buildings were dismantled at their original location and rebuilt in
Stübing, a process known as translocation. A replica of the object was
carried out if the original building could not be relocated due to
existing monument protection or other reasons. The reconstructions
relied on written and oral traditions and descriptions.
Historical objects
Mainly farms, beginning in the 17th century, but
also old mills or an old school and forest workers' huts up to the
beginning of the 20th century have been rebuilt on the museum grounds.
The houses are complemented by old furnishings and tools. Like Austria's
actual location, the ascending valley stretches from east to west,
allowing a visit to be made analogously from thatched-roof buildings of
Burgenland to the alpine huts of Bregenzerwald. The buildings from
Burgenland are therefore at the eastern entrance to the valley, while
the group of buildings from Vorarlberg forms the western end. The
Burgenland group of houses consists of six buildings and includes the
Berglerhaus, a Streckhof, a barn, storage and a free-standing bell
tower. The Styrian assembly group follows Burgenland, which with 61
objects is also the largest group within the museum and can be divided
into seven subgroups based on their regions of origin. However, some of
the buildings from one region stand together with buildings from one of
the other Styrian regions. In addition to various farmhouses, a farmer's
forge, two mills and a chapel, the 23 buildings from Eastern Styria also
include a Brechelhütte, a rope factory, a weather tower and a school
with an attached school museum. Western Styria is represented by 17
buildings, including a smokehouse with an attached return, a
woodworker's duck, a charcoal kiln and a corn harp. In one of the
western Styrian farmhouses there is a grocery store where, among other
things, sweets that used to be popular, such as silk candy and
Krachmanderl, can be bought. A granary and a Klapotetz are the two
objects that can be attributed to southern Styria. A sawmill comes from
the Mürztal, while four buildings, including a hammer mill, come from
the upper Murtal. The twelve objects from the Ennstal include a
smokehouse, an apiary, two alpine huts and an alpine stable. An old fire
station and an alpine hut come from the Styrian Salzkammergut.
The group from Carinthia, comprising seven buildings, is connected to
the Styrian group. These buildings include two wayside crosses, a harp
and a reconstruction of a historic lime kiln. With the Blochstadel from
Winkl near Reichenau, erected in 1492, the oldest building in the museum
also belongs to this group. The Vierkanthof, the Bundwerkstadel and the
chapel of the Upper Austrian group as well as the Dreiseithof known as
the Waldviertlerhof and the oven of the Lower Austrian group are next.
The South Tyrolean and Tyrolean building groups each consist of eight
buildings, including a stock mill. A mill also belongs to the
three-object group from Salzburg. The group from Vorarlberg, consisting
of a farmhouse and a dairy hut, forms the end of the museum in the west.
In addition to the approximately 100 original buildings and
reconstructions, there are also a total of 15 farm and herb gardens on
the museum grounds, which show which plants were used in farm kitchens
and as medicines. In addition to the gardens, there is also a
permaculture and several fields that are cultivated by members of the
museum.
Exhibitions
In addition to the historical objects,
there are also two exhibition buildings with partially changing
exhibitions on the site.
Inn
The newly built "Zum Göller" inn,
which is based on historical models, is located in the Styrian building
group. It is only open during the museum's opening hours and offers
historical dishes from the individual regions of Austria.
First plans for an all-Austrian open-air museum
After the opening
of the Skansen open-air museum near Stockholm in 1891, efforts were made
in other parts of Europe, including the then dual monarchy of
Austria-Hungary, to open a similar museum. In 1903 there were plans for
a regional open-air museum near the town of Eger in present-day Hungary
and in 1906 for a facility near Czernowitz in Bukovina. In an essay in
the newspaper Tagespost, the Indo-Germanist and house researcher Rudolf
Meringer published his idea for an open-air museum in the Leechwald in
Graz on May 8, 1908, and he asked the Technical University of Graz to
help with the implementation. However, this plan was not implemented.
The first concept for a museum near Linz, which should cover the variety
of houses in Austria, dates back to 1910 by the architect Hans
Wolfgruber. Since the system could not be implemented on either the
Freinberg or the Pöstlingberg, Wolfsgruber handed his plans over to the
City of Vienna. In 1914, the municipal councilor Hans Arnold Schwer
submitted an application to the Vienna City Council to build an Austrian
open-air museum on the Kahlenberg. Julius Leisching, architect and later
director of the Salzburg Museum, was a supporter of the Vienna plans,
but also made suggestions for facilities near Innsbruck and Salzburg.
However, none of these plans were implemented due to the outbreak of the
First World War and the difficult economic times that followed. In the
interwar period there were also plans for a plant in Styria. In the
Vienna area, it was only in the 1950s that the Association for Folklore,
headed by Leopold Schmidt, again came up with plans for the construction
of an all-Austrian open-air museum in the park of Laxenburg. However,
these plans failed because the representatives of the federal states
invited to a meeting could not agree. In the second half of the 20th
century, a number of open-air museums were founded in Austria, but they
all limited themselves to depicting their respective regions and did not
attempt to depict Austria as a whole.
First plans for an open-air
museum in Styria
In Graz, Viktor Geramb, a student of Rudolf
Meringer, pointed out the need to place historic farmhouses under museum
protection as early as 1911. Geramb tried four times to set up an
open-air museum in Styria. The first attempt was made in 1922 and
envisaged a museum on the Schloßberg in Graz. Five million crowns, which
Geramb had inherited from a friend, were to be used to implement the
project, but lost their value due to inflation during the interwar
period. A second planning took place in 1930 and envisaged an Alpine
open-air museum in Graz's Rosenhain. However, the municipality of Graz
did not have the financial means to implement the concept. For Geramb's
third concept of a museum at the foot of the Schlossberg, the provincial
governor Karl Maria Stepan even broke ground, but the annexation of
Austria to the German Reich in 1938 and the associated political
situation prevented the continuation of the project. However, the Nazis
built on Geramb's concept and wanted to build a kind of romantic
wildlife park as a second monument in Graz next to the clock tower. This
project also never got beyond the concept phase. As early as 1946, i.e.
directly after the Second World War, Geramb again advertised his plans
for the Graz Schlossberg, but failed again, this time due to the
economic problems of the post-war period.
The foundation in
Stübing
The folklorist Viktor Herbert Pöttler was one of Viktor
Geramb's students and was therefore familiar with the idea of an
open-air museum and the previously failed plans in Styria since his
student days. In 1958 Pöttler visited the open-air museum in Skansen,
which impressed him very much, but where he also had to realize that
such a museum with the associated operation and the financial means
required for it was not feasible in Austria. In 1961, Pöttler began to
work professionally on the planning and founding of the Austrian
Open-Air Museum. In order to avoid the bureaucracy in public
administration, which he also blamed for the failed projects, and to
employ the museum's own troop of workers so as not to be dependent on
tenders for construction companies, Pöttler founded a sponsoring
association. In addition to Pöttler, the then Styrian governor Josef
Krainer senior and the Styrian state culture officer Hanns Koren also
signed the application to found the association. At its meeting on
November 20, 1961, the Styrian provincial government decided to make an
area available for the Austrian Open-Air Museum and to create a separate
post for the museum director.
The husband of one of Viktor
Geramb's students suggested building the museum in the valley of the
Enzenbach between the Pfaffenkogel and Gsollerkogel, the current
location. Since this valley was economically very neglected at the time
and also difficult to reach, Pöttler also negotiated with the Rein Abbey
about another, more suitable area in the surrounding area at the request
of the Eisbach community. There were suggestions, but these went beyond
the financial framework, since the valley of the Enzenbach was available
through a land dedication. The decision was finally made in favor of
today's Museumstal, although several third-party properties listed in
the land register had to be acquired. On February 2, 1962, Pöttler
submitted an information plan for the design of the site, which he had
designed in collaboration with the architect Edda Gellner and the
graphic artist Erika Pochlatko, to the Minister of Education, Heinrich
Drimmel, who signed it. The plan was based on the east-west alignment of
the valley and Austria and was initially of a more theoretical nature,
so only farmhouses typical of the country and possibly suitable
buildings were drawn in, since there was no concrete building object
that had been acquired. The founding and funding of the Austrian
Open-Air Museum was decided on September 25, 1962 by corresponding
resolutions of the federal government and the Styrian provincial
government. Immediately after it was founded, Pöttler set out to
convince the governors of all federal states of his project and to ask
for their support.
Heinrich Drimmel, among other guests,
expressed his dissatisfaction with the choice of location at the
founding meeting of the museum held on November 26, 1962 in Graz Castle,
but supported the museum plans and accepted the office of president of
the museum association. Viktor Herbert Pöttler was entrusted with the
management of the association and the museum management. The actual
construction of the museum began under Pöttler in 1963. On September 7,
1970, the museum was finally opened by Federal President Franz Jonas
with 32 objects.
Since 2003, the Grazer Umland-Weg (GUW), managed
by the Naturefriends, has led across the site, according to the Graz
local group the only long-distance hiking trail that crosses a museum.
The Stübing open-air museum has been part of the Joanneum Universal
Museum since January 1, 2019.