Schloss Lerchen Museum

Schloss Lerchen Museum is a historical and cultural museum located in Radstadt, Austria. It showcases the history, geology, and crafts of the region, as well as the works of local artists and musicians. The museum is housed in a former castle that dates back to the 13th century. It was renovated in the 16th century and served as a residence for the noble family of Lerchen until the 19th century.

The museum has three floors, each dedicated to a different theme: geology and landscape, history and art, and crafts and ceramics.

• The ground floor exhibits the geological and natural diversity of the region, including fossils, minerals, and a skull of a cave bear. There is also an interactive tunnel for children to explore.
• The first floor displays the historical and artistic heritage of Radstadt, from the Roman times to the modern era. It features artifacts, paintings, and documents related to the city’s foundation, the peasant wars, the Reformation, and the Counter-Reformation. It also highlights the contributions of notable figures such as Paul Hofhaimer, a Renaissance composer and organist, and Karl Berg, a former archbishop of Salzburg.
• The second floor presents the traditional crafts and skills of the local people, such as baking, shoemaking, tailoring, and barbering. It also showcases the Radstadt ceramics, a unique style of pottery that was developed by the Hafner family and the ceramicist Leo Miller in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The museum is open from June to September, on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, from 10:00 to 12:00 and from 14:30 to 17:00. The admission fee is 4 euros for adults and 2 euros for children. The museum is part of the Museums in Radstadt network, which also includes the Museum Kapuzinerturm, a former Capuchin monastery that exhibits the religious and social life of the city.