Freimaurermuseum Schloss Rosenau

Culture, enjoyment and joie de vivre await you at the romantic baroque Rosenau Castle:

History of the Freemasons in Austria

The square structure of Rosenau Castle originally dates back to 1590. Around the middle of the 18th century, Leopold Christoph von Schallenberg had the building converted into the baroque castle it is today. A masonic lodge was established on the second floor of the castle at that time. However, the former use of the rooms as a masonic lodge was only discovered in 1974/1975 during restoration work. The history relevant to Freemasonry began in 1720 when the then eight-year-old Leopold Christoph Count Schallenberg inherited the castle.
Count Schallenberg was a high-ranking official at the court of Maria Theresa and came into close contact with the Enlightenment and its spiritual child, Freemasonry.
It was the social component of the Enlightenment movement that prompted him to develop his estate in Rosenau into an institution for the benefit of the simple people who lived and worked as farmers in the manorial surroundings of the castle.
It is very likely, although not entirely provable, that the famous Freemason Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart stopped off in Rosenau on his way from Vienna to Prague.

It was not until 1972 that the Masonic symbols were discovered during the renovation of Rosenau Castle, as they had been covered up and painted over after Schallenberg's death in 1800.

Since 1975, the baroque Renaissance building of Rosenau Castle has been home to Austria's only Masonic Museum, which provides an overview of the development of Freemasonry characterized by enlightenment, tolerance and humanity.

Museum in Rosenau Castle

In addition to numerous items on loan from the Grand Lodge of Austria, exhibits from the German Masonic Museum in Bayreuth, the Vienna Cathedral Building Lodge and the Lower Austrian Provincial Museum are also on display.

A visit - whether as a museum visitor or as a hotel guest - will be an experience full of inspiration, harmony and happiness!