Archäologisches Museum Colombischlössle

Current exhibitions

About the museum

The museum's roots go back to the second half of the 19th century, when Freiburg scholars such as Alexander Ecker assembled prehistoric collections. These holdings formed the basis of the municipal Museum für Urgeschichte (Museum of Prehistory), founded in 1938. After World War II there were no suitable premises, so the collection was not on public view for decades.

In the late 1970s, the city council decided to re-establish the museum in the Colombischlössle. The villa, built in the English Neo-Gothic style in 1859–1861 to plans by Georg Jakob Schneider for Countess Maria Antonia de Colombi, stands on a former bastion of Vauban's city fortifications. Before becoming a museum, it served among other things as an administrative building and, from 1947 to 1952, as the seat of Leo Wohleb, State President of Baden. The Archäologisches Museum opened here in 1983.

The permanent exhibition leads chronologically through some 300,000 years of human history on the southern Upper Rhine. The galleries have been renewed step by step, for example the Roman section in 2009, the Early Middle Ages room in 2022, and in 2024 the treasury with early medieval grave finds. The program is rounded out by special exhibitions, a museum app, and activities for children and young people. The museum is part of the Städtische Museen Freiburg (Freiburg municipal museums).

Highlights

• Paleolithic female figurines made of jet from the Petersfels in the Hegau
• Oldest glass bowl north of the Alps, from a grave near Ihringen
• Celtic princely grave from Kappel am Rhein
• Roman wall paintings and mosaics from the villa at Grenzach
• Treasury with early medieval grave goods
• Neo-Gothic villa from 1859–1861 in the Colombipark

Permanent exhibitions

• Dauerausstellung: Archäologie in Südbaden – Chronological tour from the Paleolithic and Mesolithic through the Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age to Roman times, with important finds from the region.
• Himmel & Erde – Schatzkammer Frühmittelalter – Staged burial rituals and valuable grave goods from the 5th to 10th centuries reveal ideas about the afterlife between belief in amulets and early Christianity.

Founded

1938

Operated by

Städtische Museen Freiburg

Director

Hans Oelze

Admission & discounts

Free admission with, among others, the Museums-PASS-Musées, FreiburgPass, RVF Welcome Karte, ICOM and Museumsbund cards, and press ID. With the Baden-Württemberg Ehrenamtskarte (volunteer card), two day tickets for the price of one.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom: not available
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

According to Museen Freiburg, the museum can be reached step-free and is wheelchair-accessible with assistance via an elevator; no wheelchair-accessible restroom is listed for this building. Once a month, tours with sign language interpretation as well as tours for people with visual impairments are offered in the Museen Freiburg program.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Hands-on stations
• Stroller-friendly: not available
• Kids’ birthday parties

Strollers are not allowed for fire safety reasons, but baby carriers without a frame are. Museum app with the puzzle game "KeltenKids" and a youth club; models and interactive stations in the permanent exhibition. Children's birthdays for 5- to 13-year-olds (Stone Age or Romans), family tours and family afternoons of the Museen Freiburg for ages 5 and up.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Plan your visit