Guild Museum

In the guild museum - in the rooms of the former Widum (rectory) - the history of the guild in general and the special development in Bichlbach are documented. Old handicraft techniques are brought back to life and juxtaposed with the processes of our time.


The guild in Bichlbach:
Like most of the building craftsmen in Tyrol, the people from the Außerfern were also subject to the Innsbruck guild or brotherhood. Due to the lack of other opportunities to earn money, the number of masons, stonemasons, plasterers and carpenters from the Außerfern working as itinerant craftsmen abroad increased from the 17th century onwards. Soon they sought to break away from the Innsbruck brotherhood; they wanted to establish an independent guild of craftsmen. In 1694, Emperor Leopold I allowed the formation of an independent craftsmen's guild in the Außerfern, whose headquarters was Bichlbach. Since the guild membership was connected with many advantages, in the course of the time almost all crafts branches of the Außerfern joined the Bichlbacher main guild.
In the years 1710 - 1712 a church was built in Bichlbach with the financial support of the guild. Today it is the only guild church in Austria! www.zunftbruderschaft.at