History

Timeline “Egger obs Moos”

From a farmhouse on the Grasberg to a museum, 1504 to 2028. Each station gets as much room as it has content – 500 years of house history are thinly documented, 30 years of association history densely.

1. The old house
2. 1200Middle Ages

   12th/13th c.

   A predecessor building probably already stands at the foot of the Grasberg. The farm is called “Egger obs Moos”.

   c. 1500

   First mentions of the farm in the records.

3. 1504The old house

   1504

   Earliest verifiable mention of the farm: the “obs Moos” estate belongs to the lordship of Ebenzweyer.

   before 1600

   Oldest surviving part: the masonry ground floor to the right of the entrance. Its painted plant ornaments imitate sgraffito.

   

4. 1700The log house

   c. 1700

   The single-storey house gains a log-built upper floor and takes on its present form. Larch sills, hewn spruce walls, beams up to 15 m, a 17 m roof truss.

   17th c.

   Painted corner quoins on the courtyard side. Double-layered front doors with wrought-iron knockers. Small “shoe-format” windows, fitted with iron spikes against animals.

   

5. 1729Simon Pyringer

   1729

   Joiner Simon Pyringer builds two large wardrobes directly inside the upper parlour – they fit through no door. Commissioned by Mathias Puz.

   c. 1750

   Pyringer works in the house a second time. His signature: gilded corners with nine rays.

   

6. 1750Diamond quoins

   18th c.

   The façades receive their painted diamond quoins – to this day the festive face of the Eggerhaus. Painted Viechtau wardrobes arrive: cushion-panel, strapwork and bird wardrobes.

   1787

   Wardrobe by Johann Pühringer, son of Simon.

   

7. 1850Imperial era

   19th c.

   A basket-arch vault replaces the wooden ceiling in the entrance hall. The open hearth is removed: a cooking stove in the parlour, a bread oven in the black kitchen. Parlour and side chamber as they were lived in under Emperor Franz Joseph.

   The load-bearing parts of the Eggerstadl (from the Seilergütl farm) and the granary also date from this period.

   

8. 1940At the old site

   c. 1940

   The house at its original site: towards Neukirchen, past the warehouse and across the railway on the right.

   1950s

   The farm wing is rebuilt.

   

9. Rescue and rebuilding
10. 1995Rescue

    1995

    The farmhouse is to make way for a modern farm building. On 14 December people from Altmünster found the “Association for the Rescue and Preservation of Historic Building Culture” – today’s Kulturverein Eggerhaus. The municipality buys the house.

    

11. 1996Dismantling

    Autumn 1995

    Under the direction of Prof. Dr. Gunter Dimt the house is surveyed, drawn, photographed – and carefully taken down. Every beam, window and door gets a number.

    1996

    Stored under a temporary roof at the municipal yard. Beneath the plaster: façade paintings from three eras.

    

12. 1998Rebuilding

    Aug. 1998

    Construction starts at the present site after a land swap between the municipality and the SOS Children’s Village. Same orientation as at the old site.

    1998–2003

    Rebuilt from the original fabric: around 20,000 hours of volunteer work, 30,000 larch shingles, 17 different window types reproduced.

    

13. Museum and cultural venue
14. 2003Opening

    16 Aug 2003

    Opened as a museum of 17th- to 19th-century building and living culture – and as a place for culture, festivals and meeting people.

    2004/05

    First special exhibition: “Master-made nativity scenes” (Sepp Moser).

    

15. 2008The ensemble grows

    2008

    The Eggerstadl barn is complete. Upper Austrian state exhibition “Das Salzkammergut”: 450 years of Viechtau cottage industry.

    2009

    Archway to the barn.

    2016

    A 19th-century granary is moved here from a farm three kilometres away.

    2017

    The collection is entered in the Upper Austrian museum network’s collection database.

    2018

    Barn extension with service rooms.

    

16. 2025New start

    2025

    A new board takes over. The house is seen as a museum again.

    The year

    Palm bundles, bread baking, culture evenings, winter solstice – the region’s customs live on in the house.

    2026

    First participation in the Long Night of Museums.

    

17. 2028Anniversary

    2028

    30 years since construction began · 25 years of the museum · 20 years of the Eggerstadl.

    

Sources: Gunter Dimt, “Egger obs Moos”; short guide; museum curator course thesis 2026. “1200”, “1750” and “1850” mark eras, not dated events.