2003 to today
The Eggerhaus project continues
Once the reconstructed Eggerhaus had opened as a “museum of building and living culture”, the task was to maintain it and fill it with life: with events and guided tours for a wider public. Renting out rooms pays for upkeep and presentation.
2003 – 2006
16 August 2003: official opening of the Eggerhaus as a museum of historic building and living culture.
The house was not finished yet: over the following years the volunteers created the outdoor area (wooden fence at the entrance, cottage garden with a traditional rail fence, a round bench around the pear tree) and worked inside (more wooden-peg fixing of the upper-floor ceilings, a house bench, restoring and buying furniture, better infrastructure).
2007 – 2014
The Eggerstadl barn expanded the project considerably: in 2007/08 a mid-19th-century barn of the right size and construction became available. It was dismantled, rebuilt near the Eggerhaus and has been a popular venue ever since. In May 2009 a brick archway was added to link the “old” Eggerhaus with the barn, modelled on the former entrance to the cowshed.
In September 2010 the granary of the “Vordere Gassen” farm, about three kilometres from the original Eggerhaus site, was taken down. It had to wait until 2016 to be rebuilt.
Dismantling the granary in 2010 2015 – 2019
August 2015: the unexpected death of chairman Hansjörg Franzelin is a deep loss for the association. But building soon resumes: in 2016 the granary is re-erected using original wooden pegs, new ones hand-made by Stefan Hobl, and old forged nails. The grounds are planted and the grain bins installed.
In 2015/16 the barn is professionally treated against woodworm. From January 2017 the barn extension with toilets, a small kitchen and storage is built – a big step for the infrastructure. The event hall gets a tiled stove from around 1800 and a historic floor from the Gmunden Schleißhaus; the barn gets an OSB floor.
The smokehouse is producing its own smoked meat again.
Smoking meat in the smokehouse 2020 – 2025
There were no major new projects in these years. Plans connected with the European Capital of Culture, such as a link building between the old house and the barn, fell victim to the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, global turmoil and tight public budgets. Work focused on repairs and the barn's infrastructure:
- oak plank floor in the barn (2020)
- catering equipment for the barn (2022–2024)
- repair of the shingle roof and new shingles on the lake side after the June 2021 hailstorm (October 2022)
- new roofing for a large part of the shed roof after the same hailstorm (spring 2023)
- new lighting in the event hall (autumn 2023)