Open-air museum

A disco evening at the museum for the 40th anniversary

The new director Peter Fritz lent a hand at the ground-breaking ceremony.(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

This 40th anniversary will not be boring: to celebrate the anniversary of the open-air museum, there will be an 80s-style dance evening. At the same time, hard work is going on: Construction of the new visitor center is about to begin.

If the disco evening for our anniversary in the summer is a success, then we'll build our own village disco," jokes the new director of the open-air museum, Peter Fritz. But before Fritz can turn this idea into reality, there is another building project to be completed: The new visitor center in the entrance area of the museum.

The new visitor center with 1245 square meters of floor space is being built to the left of the entrance area.(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

The museum had been waiting a long time for yesterday's ground-breaking ceremony. The coronavirus pandemic and nature conservation requirements delayed the start of construction. As things stand, the project will cost around 6.8 million euros net. The sum will be covered by the state of Salzburg. The wooden building will have a net floor area of around 1245 square meters. It should be completed in the fall of 2025.

The new visitor center will be built on this plot next to the parking lot.(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

However, a much more important figure for the open-air museum at the moment is the 40th anniversary. It is being celebrated in a particularly big way this year. Under the motto "then-today-tomorrow", there will not only be the aforementioned 80s disco evening on 8 June, but also a multi-layered program around it. Including two new exhibitions, special tours and a newly published book.

The open-air museum will soon have another building to add to its collection.(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

There is also news from the management floor of the open-air museum: after seven years, Director Michael Weese officially hands over his position to his successor Peter Fritz on April 1. He previously spent three and a half years as Managing Director of Schallaburg in Lower Austria. "The open-air museum is a jewel for me. Its special feature is the combination of cultural and natural landscape," says the new director. In future, the focus will be on the latter through reforestation measures on the grounds.