Outdoor cement museum Schwoich

The cradle of cement

The wooden sign on the two narrow pillars seems unassuming. A simple, square sign with a small surprise. In white font it reads out: "Cement-oven Museum“. Behind it a massive stonewall with a large, round entrance gate. The entrance to the Outdoor cement museum Schwoich.

Searching for traces in the cement

The idyllic recreational village of Schwoich sure doesn't look like an industrial site. And even less like the cradle of the Austrian cement industry. But this is exactly where in the year 1842, Franz Kink extracted 1,400 kilos of cement without the use of trass or pozzolana. He had found the same product as James Parker in England 40 years before. Schwoich became the cradle of Austria's cement industry. In 1987, the community of Schwoich, together with the company Perlmoser AG and other sponsors, restored to of the former kilns. Since then they bear testimony to the former establishment of the cement works. The kilns can be found right by the town limits of Schwoich, in the so-called " Russia".