Massage Trade License (Massage)
Key Facts
- Type: Regulated trade
- Qualification: Qualification exam — 5 modules
- Cost: Free registration, exam fees covered by government
- Mobile massage: Possible (specify location at registration)
- NOT the same as: Physiotherapy or medical massage (health professions, not trades)
Critical Distinction
- Commercial massage (§94 Z.48 GewO) = regulated trade. Covers: classic, sports, wellness, aromatherapy massage.
- Medical massage (Heilmassage) = health profession under separate law (MMHmG). NOT a trade.
- Physiotherapy = health profession. NOT a trade.
And the trade is not called Humanenergetik: that word does not appear once in the official federal list of free trades. What you register is „Hilfestellung zur Erreichung einer körperlichen bzw. energetischen Ausgewogenheit“ plus the method. Full German explainer →
Hygiene is not vague here. The Ausübungsregeln-Verordnung (BGBl. II No. 262/2008) names massage under § 94 Z 48 expressly, and its § 5 requires the staff-health briefing to be documented and kept available for ten years — with the activity restrictions applying to the business owner personally, not only to employees.
Related Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between wellness and medical massage?
The Gewerbemassage covers wellness/relaxation massage. Medical massage (Heilmassage) requires additional healthcare qualifications.
Can I work in hotels with a massage license?
Yes, hotel spa partnerships are a popular and stable revenue channel for massage therapists.
This trade is expressly exempt from the installation permit
Qualification: how to prove it
Massage is a regulated trade under §94 Z.48 of the Austrian Trade Act (GewO 1994). The standard route is the qualification exam (befähigungsprüfung).
- Examined by: Meisterprüfungsstelle der Wirtschaftskammer
- Exam modules: 5
- Exam fee: €0 — exam fees are covered by the federal government
If you cannot sit the exam, these routes are open to you:
- Lehrabschlussprüfung Masseur/in
- Individuelle Befähigung bei einschlägiger Ausbildung + Praxis
- Appointing a qualified managing director
Registering the trade
- Cost: Free — registration itself carries no fee
- Where: District administrative authority — Bezirkshauptmannschaft or Magistrat
- Decision within: max. 3 months
- Typically takes: 1-5 Werktage (bei vollständigen Unterlagen)
- Start trading: immediately on registration — you do not have to wait for the decision
You can register in these ways:
- Online via GISA (the trade register)
- Online via USP (the business service portal)
- In person at the authority
- By post
Who may register
- Minimum age: 18
- Citizenship or residence: Austria, EU, EEA or Switzerland — third-country nationals with a residence permit are also eligible
- Clean record: no disqualifying convictions (checked by the authority)
Documents to bring
- Valid photo ID
- Befähigungsnachweis (Prüfungszeugnis oder LAP Masseur)
- Strafregisterbescheinigung (bei <5 Jahren Aufenthalt in AT)
Terms shown in German are the ones printed on the Austrian forms — you will meet them exactly like this at the authority.
Where to go, by province
| Province | Competent authority |
|---|---|
| Lower Austria | Bezirkshauptmannschaft |
| Upper Austria | Bezirkshauptmannschaft / Magistrat Linz/Wels/Steyr |
| Styria | Bezirkshauptmannschaft / Magistrat Graz |
| Tyrol | Bezirkshauptmannschaft / Magistrat Innsbruck |
| Salzburg | Bezirkshauptmannschaft / Magistrat Salzburg |
| Carinthia | Bezirkshauptmannschaft / Magistrat Klagenfurt/Villach |
| Burgenland | Bezirkshauptmannschaft |
| Vorarlberg | Bezirkshauptmannschaft / Magistrat Bregenz |
Sole trader, GmbH, or partnership?
Trade law does not prescribe a legal form — but it does draw one line. Under § 9 (1) GewO, legal entities and registered partnerships (GmbH, OG, KG) may hold a trade licence, but they „must have appointed a managing director (§ 39)“ — a named person who carries the qualification and the legal responsibility for the trade. As a sole trader you are that person yourself.
Whether a GmbH pays off financially depends on profit, drawings, SVS contributions and allowances. There is no general profit threshold, and that question belongs to a tax adviser, not to this page.
Running this trade alongside a job
Nothing in Austrian law forbids running a trade as a side business. Two things about social insurance are regularly misremembered, and both cost money.
- The obligation follows Chamber membership, not profit. Under § 2 (1) 1 GSVG compulsory SVS insurance attaches to membership of the Economic Chamber, which you acquire with the trade licence itself. It therefore applies in a year in which you make no profit at all.
- There is an exemption — but only on application. § 4 (1) 7 GSVG lets very small businesses be exempted while turnover and income stay under the limits it refers to. Nothing happens automatically: without the application, the obligation stands.
If you are employed, check your employment contract separately for a secondary-activity clause — that is a matter between you and your employer, not trade law.
Legal basis: GewO 1994 §94 Z.48 . Last reviewed April 2026. This is not legal advice.