The FIS Skimuseum Damüls is a skiing museum located in

Damüls Damüls is a village community and popular tourist resort in the district of Bregenz in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg. Damüls is known for its abundance of snow. In 2006, Damüls was awarded the honorary title "the snowiest villag ...

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label=Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is ...

(

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

). It is accommodated in the ''Kulisse Pfarrhof'' and displays exhibitions about local history and winter sports. After the exhibition was completely redesigned in the summer of 2017, it was certified by the International Ski Federation (FIS) and remains Vorarlberg’s only FIS ski museum.

The building

The Damüls parsonage is located prominently, directly below the church of St. Nikolaus in Damüls and had been empty for several years. On the basis of an initiative of Christian Lingenhöle, the two buildings (house and stable) were adapted accordingly and opened after minor alterations in the summer of 2013 as "Kulisse Pfarrhof".

The exhibition

The museum tackles the village's 700-year history as well as its 120-year history of skiing. Damüls is one of the few original settlements of the

Walser The Walser people are the speakers of the Walser German dialects, a variety of Highest Alemannic. They inhabit the region of the Alps of Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as well as the fringes of Italy and Austria. The Walser people are named af ...

people, dating back to the 14th century. Exhibits, primarily collected by Christian Lingenhöle, provide insights into the rich history of skiing in the village. The museum features an extensive collection of historic and modern skis including original racing skis from 1957 by ski legend

Toni Sailer Anton Engelbert "Toni" Sailer (17 November 1935 – 24 August 2009) was an Austrian alpine ski racer, considered among the best in the sport. At age 20, he won all three gold medals in alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics. He nearly duplica ...

. In addition to skis, the focus is also on winter-sports equipment and memorabilia, clothing, photographs, literature and documents. Some curiosities illustrate the way in which past generations have experimented with skiing. A library and a historical archive are currently being built.

Special exhibitions

* 2019: "Pioneering spirit – how people shaped tourism" (portrayals of people who were active in the founding years of tourism in Damüls) * 2020: "Second home – Damüls regulars tell stories" * 2021: "Reinhold Simma and Damüls" (Reinhold Simma, who came from the Bregenzerwald, was the last pastor of Damüls. Father Simma is still remembered by many people in Damüls and far beyond. He was a formative personality of the place, which influenced some developments, not least in tourism.)

External links

Home page

Overview of official FIS ski museums

References

{{Reflist Local museums in Austria Museums in Vorarlberg History museums in Austria Ski museums and halls of fame Alpine skiing in Austria