New visitor center

Cheers to the finished open-air museum shell

Museum Director Peter Fritz with a small ridge tree in front of the new building.(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

After a long wait, the new visitor center at the Salzburg Open-Air Museum is now taking shape.

"We only had the ground-breaking ceremony at the end of March, and since then it's gone very quickly," says the director of the Salzburg Open-Air Museum, Peter Fritz, proudly, looking at the huge wooden building behind him. On Wednesday, the museum hosted the topping-out ceremony for the new visitor center, which has an impressive net floor area of around 1,245 square meters.

On the roof, a worker gave the topping-out speech to thank everyone involved in the construction.(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

The museum had had to wait a long time for this day. The coronavirus pandemic and nature conservation regulations delayed the start of construction considerably. Now there was all the more reason to celebrate: the topping-out speech was given just before the rain set in. Afterwards, it was time for everyone involved in the construction work to head out into the dry for a cozy get-together. "The weather can't harm us in the next stages of construction," said Fritz.

The interior work will take place over the next few months. The interior should be complete by next spring. The move will then take place in the summer and fall. The new visitor center should be able to open its doors to guests in March 2026. The project will cost around 6.8 million euros net. The sum will be covered by the state of Salzburg.