Austrian Open-Air Museum Stübing

The Austrian Open-Air Museum Stuebing near Graz is one of the 10 major and central open-air museums in Europe. As the largest and only national open-air museum in Austria, it displays the formative historical architectural styles of the various federal provinces. In a trip through time right across Austria, the original farm buildings tell the exciting stories of construction, living, working and celebrating - in short, the life of the farming population of days gone by. 

As an open-air museum acknowledged across Europe, Stuebing was awarded the UNESCO ICOM seal of quality for museums in 2002. It opens up an authentic glimpse at the roots of the history of Austria by preserving the irreplaceable cultural heritage from six centuries.

In the Museum valley, 100 farming objects from the various Austrian provinces and from South Tyrol have been constructed, from which original historical buildings and replicas and reconstructions can be found in Stuebing!

The original historical buildings were dismantled at their original sites and rebuilt in the Open-Air Museum. This process is called translocation.

In the rebuilding process, actually existing objects which – e.g. for reasons of protection of historical buildings and monuments – cannot be translocated, are rebuilt in the Austrian Open Air Museum. The reconstruction is based upon descriptions in literature and upon oral tradition by informants or other sources, and buildings  are reconstructed in most cases with the help of third persons.

The historical buildings in the museum valley invite you to discover the everyday life of our farming ancestors and to rediscover their knowledge and experience. It was shaped by the interaction between nature and culture. Each individual historical item in the Austrian openair museum tells an impressive story about the settlers and their living conditions since 1452!

The gentle interaction with nature as the basis of life is still maintained today in the museum valley in a traditional way: the grain is harvested with a sickle, and the meadows are mowed by scythe. Herbs that have almost been forgotten grow in the farm gardens and animals graze on the meadows. The museum grounds are designated as a conservation area due rare plants and animals.

The diversity of Austrian styles of architecture and hence those in the central open-air museum is made up of the differences in the local conditions, building materials and handicraft skills that are preserved in Stübing as an intangible cultural heritage. As a centre of competence for traditional handicraft, these techniques are passed on to the visitors in demonstrations and courses.