New machine

Mönchhof: Reed mats from the village museum

Pepo Haubenwallner with the new machine.(Bild: Charlotte Titz)

The museum is currently closed to tourists. In the background, however, it is busy building. A new machine is being used to produce reed mats for insulation.

As always, Pepo Haubenwallner uses the winter months to build something new for his village museum in Mönchhof. This time it is "only" a shelter for the reed mat production machine purchased in 2024.

Machine from Rust
"Arie Van Hoorne, our reed maker friend, called us and told us about the machine that is in Rust. He said we absolutely had to get it, it belongs in the village museum," says Haubenwallner, explaining how he came across the machine in the first place. The phone call was followed by action and a short time later the machine belonged to the Haubenwallners.

The village museum is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year.(Bild: Charlotte Titz)

Roof missing
However, it still took a while before it could finally "move in". This is because construction only takes place when it is not in season. Work began last week and the machine is now in place. "All that's missing now is the roof. But that's no longer rocket science," says the museum owner.

Everything is built inside the walls, but fortunately Pepo still has a hectare of space outside. The old equipment can be admired here from the opening in April.

Demonstrations planned
What Haubenwallner is particularly proud of: "The machine still works." In other words, there will be demonstrations showing how to produce reed mats. So the machine is far from being a thing of the past.