Evangelisches Museum Oberösterreich

The Evangelical Museum of Upper Austria stands in the old protected village school of Rutzenmoos, a hamlet within the market town of Regau. The schoolhouse was built in 1839 for the local Protestant congregation and served as a classroom and teacher’s home. After gaining public status in 1871 it was enlarged twice, finally becoming a four-class village school in 1996. The building’s long service to education ended when a new school opened, leaving the empty classrooms ready for a new purpose. Its location was chosen because Rutzenmoos still preserves the trio of Protestant church, manse and school in its centre. The museum was planned from 1991 onwards by a team led by Superintendent Hansjörg Eichmeyer. Architect Peter Kuglstätter restored the fabric while curator Günter Merz assembled the exhibits. The first chairman of the new museum association was Roland Juranek, followed by Ulrike Eichmeyer-Schmid who also directs the museum today. The collection draws on gifts from Superintendent Friedrich Koch’s library, the tiny Rutzenmoos Bible Museum and parish archives across the region. It traces Upper Austria’s Protestant story from the first secret congregations after the Counter-Reformation to the Tolerance Patent of 1781. Visitors enter a foyer that leads down to a multimedia show about the Reformation, then climb a spiral stair to the exhibition floors. Thirteen rooms on three storeys display Bibles, hymnals and prints that spread Martin Luther’s ideas across Europe. One room recreates an early classroom recalling the building’s original use. The top floor hosts talks and concerts, while special exhibitions once filled the calendar every year. Exhibits have included a touring display on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and a display of rare Bibles borrowed from Kremsmünster and Schlägl abbeys.