Museum for sustainability opens in former Gaas school

A museum for sustainability has opened in a former school in Gaas, a village in the municipality of Eberau in Güssing district, ORF reported. Viennese resident Peter Hirschfeld bought the more than 100-year-old building four years ago and restored it after it had stood empty for almost 50 years.

Hirschfeld carried out the restoration himself. He said heritage protection helped make the work ecological, and he furnished the building sustainably: none of the furnishings is less than 60 years old.

The museum also explores the psychological side of sustainability. Hirschfeld created a baroque-style “cigar room” with old furniture, a black floor, a pendulum clock and two wingback chairs. Visitors are invited to leave their phones outside and spend 10 minutes in the room with nothing happening.

Mayor Johann Weber welcomed the school’s revival, saying it supported efforts to tackle vacant buildings and population loss. The municipality has lost about half its residents over the past 100 years, he said, and has been working to find new uses for empty buildings.

Eberau took part in RURALL, a project run by the Centre for Social Innovation involving 18 European countries. It was the only Austrian municipality in the project. The municipality identified 40 vacant buildings, examined 20 in more detail and developed plans for three, which are now seeking investors.

The proposed projects include turning a former agricultural machinery workshop in central Eberau into a space for a “Soul Kitchen” concept, where older people look after children after school. A boarding school was also considered for the building. A former carpentry workshop could become an indoor leisure park, while a small wine cellar building on Wintner Berg could serve as holiday accommodation and a stop for cyclists.

The state of Burgenland is also launching a vacant-property initiative. A platform is planned where owners can list empty buildings and potential buyers can find them. According to SPÖ state parliament member Doris Prohaska, the state also offers renovation grants of up to 40,000 euros and a long-term loan.