Welcome to the historic Meierhof in St. Florian which houses one of the world's biggest fire brigade museums.
Experience history first-hand by exploring an exhibition area of more than 2.500m².
Enter the fascinating and diverse world of fire extinction. Get a glimpse of the past. The museum building, an impressive farmstead next to the monastery of the Augustinian Canons in St Florian, was built between 1676 and 1685. Due to its dimensions, it is considered one of the largest farmsteads of its time.
However, after the Second World War, the building was left to dilapidate. To save the historic building stock and give it a new purpose, the "Association for Preservation of the Baroque Meierhof St Florian" took up the renovation of the building and turned it into a fire brigade museum which was opened in 1984. The historic farmstead has a new purpose and does fire brigade history justice.
The museum provides a deep insight into technical, as well as social aspects of fire brigade history. Fritz Heiserer was one of the founding fathers of the museum and his private collection made up the basis of the exhibition. He was able to provide an impressive number of items because of his family ties with the fire brigade supplier Rosenbauer. Over the decades, the collection has enlarged and today the museum owns a great number of unique exhibits in excellent condition. This is why the museum was certified according to the strict international guidelines of the CTIF (International Association of Fire and Rescue Services).
Few organizations are as deeply rooted in public life as the fire brigade is. Its past is equally colourful as its present. Volunteer fire brigades, company fire departments and public fire brigades have always been an important part of public life. The museum exhibits historic fire fighting equipment, hand-operated fire pumps, horse-drawn carts, boats, equipment of the rescue forces and more than 50 vintage fire vehicles. However, it also displays aspects of modern fire extinction technology, emergency aid operations, fire prevention and the fire brigade industry. The fire brigade museum therefore links the past with the present and appeals to both young and old because of the great diversity of exhibits.
Displaying its collection is not the only task of a museum. It is equally important to collect, archive and preserve valuable historical objects and documents. The preservation of cultural objects relating to fire brigades is therefore one of the challenges of the 21st Century - a challenge that our volunteer staff members are faced with daily. This task would be hard to achieve without the generous contributions from public authorities and private benefactors.
About 3.000 exhibits
Over 3.000 exhibits are displayed in 17 rooms which provide an insight into the past and present of fire brigades. Besides equipment, medals, badges and trophies, the museum also exhibits historic documents and even fire brigade toys. Each exhibit is explained in detail. The museum also displays a great number of photographic documents showing the equipment in action.
The historic museum brings the fascinating world of fire brigades very close. For children in particular, there are many things to discover. This is why children under the age of 7 enter free of charge. Guided tours are available for school groups. Discounted group tickets are available for groups of more than 10 people. Each visit guarantees a memorable experience!
