Museum Nordseeheilbad Norderney

Current exhibitions

About the museum

The Heimatverein Norderney had pursued the idea of its own island museum since the 1980s, but for a long time it lacked space and money. In 2005 the Förderverein Museum Nordseeheilbad Norderney was founded; the Staatsbad Norderney GmbH let it have the seawater open-air pool near Weststrand, which had been closed down in 2002. After the 1970s building was converted, the association opened the museum there in 2007, and it has run it ever since.

Norderney was founded in 1800 and is thus the oldest seaside resort on the German North Sea coast – after Heiligendamm the second oldest in Germany. The permanent exhibition “Reiselust & Badespaß” traces, on more than 350 square metres, how a modest beginning turned into a fashionable seaside resort: it explores why seaside resorts came into being, how guests used to travel to the coast and what rules applied on the beach. Original exhibits, photographs, advertising posters and personal keepsakes, along with travel accessories, fashion and bathing attire, bring the water cure, accommodation, bathing customs and beach life to life. Touchscreens and a radio play about a farmer's journey to the island in 1840 complement the exhibits. In front of the building stands the wave machine of the Norderney wave pool from 1931.

Since 2011 the museum has also included a historic print workshop with a working “Heidelberger Tiegel” (platen press) from the 1950s; at regular demonstrations (“Drucken live”) visitors can follow how printed matter was produced by hand. The art gallery, inaugurated in 2012, was initially dedicated to the painter Hans Trimborn, who lived on the island from 1919 to 1939. Since 2019 the present gallery at Weststrand has mainly shown works by the Norderney painter Poppe Folkerts (1875–1949), who as the “painter of the North Sea” captured light, clouds and sea in an Impressionist manner, and regularly works by changing artists.

Highlights

• Permanent exhibition “Reiselust & Badespaß” on just over 200 years of seaside resort history
• 1931 wave machine of the Norderney wave pool in front of the museum
• Historic print workshop with a working “Heidelberger Tiegel” and “Drucken live” demonstrations
• Gallery at Weststrand with works by the “painter of the North Sea” Poppe Folkerts
• Multimedia guides for children, young people, adults and in Easy Language

Permanent exhibitions

• Reiselust & Badespaß – Die Geschichte des Seebades – Journey through just over 200 years of seaside resort history on more than 350 m²: from modest beginnings and early bathing customs to the fashionable seaside resort, with original exhibits, photographs, advertising posters, travel accessories, fashion and bathing attire, complemented by media stations and a radio play.
• Galerie am Weststrand – Seascapes, landscapes and island views by the Norderney painter Poppe Folkerts (1875–1949), complemented by regularly changing exhibitions of other artists.
• Historische Druckwerkstatt – Workshop with a working “Heidelberger Tiegel” from the 1950s; the “Drucken live” demonstrations show how printed matter was produced by hand.

Founded

2007

Operated by

Förderverein Museum Nordseeheilbad Norderney e. V.

Director

Matthias Pausch

Visitors per year

approx. 14,580 (2025)

Admission & discounts

Children under 8 have free admission. Members of the Förderverein free.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials
• Audio description: no information

Large parts of the museum can be reached step-free, including access to the terrace. Accessible toilet in the foyer. Multimedia guide tour in Easy Language. Assistance dogs are allowed. Museum staff will help if needed.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide

For children aged 8 to 12, a museum rally, a small children's guide with coloring pictures and a discovery tour with worksheets are available at the ticket desk. Separate multimedia guide tour for primary-school-age children. During school holidays, amber-grinding courses (from age 6 accompanied, from age 12 alone); also the “Museumsdetektive” program for 7- to 12-year-olds.

Getting there & parking

The museum is located near Weststrand: walk along the beach promenade toward Weststrand and at the bathing hall follow the signposted path to the museum.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Restaurant: not available
• Museum shop
• Lockers

Small coffee bar in the foyer with access to the large outdoor terrace; museum shop with books, pictures, postcards and prints; lockers for luggage.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit