One of Germany's oldest open-air museums: more than 50 historic buildings from Lower Saxony, from farmsteads and mills to a country disco.
4. september 2026 – 11. oktober 2026
Traveling exhibition by the Polizeimuseum Niedersachsen on the ideal and reality of police work between 1918 and 1933, shown in the Münchhausenscheune barn.
18. oktober 2026 – 18. april 2027
Around 150 brass works by renowned and unknown designers from 1895 to 1935, in cooperation with the Deutsches Messing Museum Krefeld.
The roots of the Museumsdorf (museum village) go back to 1922, when a local history museum for the Oldenburger Münsterland region was founded in Cloppenburg. The driving force was the teacher Heinrich Ottenjann, who came up with the idea of not merely documenting rural buildings but dismantling them completely and re-erecting them in a museum village. From 1934 the site on Bether Straße was developed for this purpose, and in 1936 the open-air museum officially opened – one of the first of its kind in Germany.
Over the following decades, the complex grew to around 20 hectares with more than 50 buildings from the 16th to the 20th century. These include imposing farmsteads such as the Quatmannshof and the Wehlburg, several windmills, craftsmen's houses, a village school, the half-timbered church from Klein-Escherde, and the Arkenstede manor house, which shows the lifestyle of the rural gentry. Under Helmut Ottenjann, who directed the museum from 1961, academic collecting and research also gained importance.
Today the Museumsdorf is a foundation under public law and bears the title Niedersächsisches Freilichtmuseum (Lower Saxony Open-Air Museum). In recent years it has increasingly turned its attention to the more recent past: the country disco “Zum Sonnenstein” from Harpstedt was the first building from the period after 1949 to be relocated here, and an area devoted to everyday rural life in the postwar decades is to be developed around it. In 2022 the museum celebrated its centenary. Changing exhibitions, livestock, gardens, and large event days such as the fair (Kirmes), harvest festival, and St. Nicholas market complement the tour.
| Voksne | 12 € |
|---|---|
| Nedsat pris | 8 €School students over 18, trainees, university students, unemployed people, welfare recipients, voluntary service participants (FSJ/BFD), people with severe disabilities (with proof) |
| Børn og unge | 4 €gratis til og med 5 år · Children and young people aged 6 to 18 €4; under 6 free |
| Pensionister | –No senior discount listed |
| Personer med handicap | 8 €Reduced admission with severe disability ID (Schwerbehindertenausweis); rules for companions not specified |
| Studerende og elever | 8 € |
| Grupper (fra 15 pers.) | 10 € pr. person15 people or more: adults €10, reduced €6, school students and young people €4 per person. |
| Familier | 25 €2 adults with children; small family ticket (1 adult with children) €13 |
| Small family day ticket (1 adult + children) | 13 € |
| Annual pass, individual | 40 €Valid for 12 months from date of issue |
| Family annual pass | 80 €Valid for 12 months from date of issue |
Day tickets also available in advance via Nordwest-Ticket. Bookable guided tours in addition to admission (e.g., overview tour for adults €80, school classes €50, 90-minute themed tour €100 per group). Discount partnerships with the Moor- und Fehnmuseum Elisabethfehn, Emslandmuseum Schloss Clemenswerth, and Park der Gärten. Card payment possible at the main ticket desk.
Because of the historic buildings, only partially accessible; some houses and exhibitions cannot be reached by wheelchair. Accessible main entrance at the Bether Straße parking lot with a pedestrian bridge (incline) into the old village; access from Höltinghauser Straße by prior arrangement by phone (04471 9484-40). Paths can be slippery in winter.
Velegnet til børn og familier
| Entré for børn | gratis til og med 5 år |
|---|---|
| Familiebillet | 25 € · 2 adults with children; small family ticket (1 adult with children) €13 |
Adventure tour for families (approx. 60 min.), hands-on activities and animals in the museum village; children's birthday parties (2 hours, depending on the program ages 6, 8 or 10 and up).
NordWestBahn to Cloppenburg station (from Oldenburg or Osnabrück), then on foot; directions from the station available as a download on the museum website.
Parkering muligt
Ample parking in the immediate vicinity.
Via the A1 (exit Cloppenburg) and the B72 to the exit Cloppenburg-Bethen, then follow the signs; from the north via the A29 to the exit Ahlhorn.
Planlæg ruteRestaurant "Dorfkrug im Museumsdorf" (from March 11:00–16:30, with its own vacation closures) and Backhaus at the Quatmannshof with bread, butter cake and coffee (April–October). Dogs on a leash allowed.
Op til 55 personer.
Civil weddings in the wedding room of the Arkenstede manor house (May–September, on the first Friday and Saturday of each month; €200), church weddings in the village church from Klein-Escherde (max. 55 seats; €250). Celebrations through the Dorfkrug.
Forespørgsel & detaljer| Rundvisninger | ja |
|---|---|
| Tilbud til skoler | ja |
| Fotografering | Photography and filming for private purposes allowed; commercial use, tripods, flash, and drones only with permission. |
| Godt at vide | Guided tours, themed and hands-on programs for groups, schools, and daycare centers by appointment (fuehrungen@museumsdorf.de, 04471 9484-23); cancellation fees apply from 7 days in advance. No smoking on the grounds; bicycles and scooters may not be ridden. |
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