Stadtmuseum Hollabrunn Alte Hofmühle

The Stadtmuseum Alte Hofmühle stands in Hollabrunn, a town in Lower Austria. The building itself is a 16th-century manor house that once served as a mill until the early 20th century. It became a museum in the 1970s, now housing permanent displays on local art and culture alongside rotating special exhibitions. The museum’s origins trace back to 1903, when private collections formed the basis of today’s institution. Its holdings include regional history artefacts such as tools from working life, Habaner ceramics, coins and equipment. The Hollabrunner Museumsverein manages the organisation, while the city council acts as legal owner. The building’s past links to noble families like the Lords of Oberhollabrunn and the Ministerials of Sonnberg add layers to its story. The architecture centres on a two-storey main building and an adjoining service wing, enclosing a square courtyard. A 1614 inscription marks the arched gateway, flanked by carved stone volutes. Inside, a 17th-century timber ceiling incorporates beams salvaged from Schloss Sonnberg. The courtyard also holds a 17th-century wayside shrine relocated in 1974, its reliefs depicting Passion tools and figures like Saint Roch and Saint Sebastian. Visitors move through rooms that preserve both the structure’s historic fabric and its evolving role as a cultural hub.