Fasnachtsmuseum

A small museum dedicated to the Schemenlaufen, Imst's quadrennial masked carnival, with rooms of hand-carved wooden masks, embroidered costumes, and old film footage of past processions. The exhibits explain who the various characters are — the bell-ringing Rollers and Schellers, the demonic Spritzer who chase children with squirts of water, the Sackner with their padded suits — and why the procession is only held once every four years.

If you can't time a visit to a Schemenlaufen year (the next is in 2028), this is the next best thing. It also doubles as a workshop where mask-carvers can sometimes be seen at work.

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A story
The Imster Schemenlaufen, the masked carnival procession held every four years, was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2010. Its masks — Roller, Scheller, Spritzer, Sackner — are carved from a single block of stone pine by hand, and many are passed from father to son across generations.

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