Beecker Flachsmuseum

About the museum

The village of Beeck near Wegberg was long regarded as a stronghold of flax growing on the Lower Rhine; in the local dialect it was even called “Flaasbeek”. To keep this tradition alive, citizens came together in 1982 with the aim of reviving a historic flax market. This led to the founding of the Heimatverein Wegberg-Beeck, which in 1983 opened a small first flax museum in the rented old Mühlenbroich smithy.

The rooms soon became too small. In 1987 the association bought the property at Holtumer Straße 19 with an old tithe barn and, with heritage conservation funding and a great deal of its own labour, converted it into today's museum; a partial opening took place in 1988, and a state grant made completion possible in 1989. The autumn flax markets attracted thousands of visitors for years and helped with financing.

The exhibition leads through all the stages of work, from flaxseed through rippling, breaking, scutching and hackling to spinning and weaving, and tells of the everyday life of flax farmers up to around 1900. The upper floor deals with the fibre's significance today, and there is also a recreated wash house and a museum garden where schoolchildren sow and harvest flax themselves every year. Together with the nearby Museum of European Folk Costumes, the museum forms the “Beecker Erlebnismuseen” (Beeck Experience Museums), which are run entirely by volunteers.

Highlights

• Historic flax-processing tools that visitors can work with themselves
• “Flax diploma” hands-on activity for school classes and individual visitors
• Museum garden with its own flax field
• “Grandma's Wash House” with old washing equipment
• “Flax 2000” exhibition on the fibre today
• Museum café “Linum” with furniture from an old Beeck hotel

Founded

1983

Operated by

Heimatverein Wegberg-Beeck e.V.

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Admission to the Flax Museum and the Museum of European Folk Costumes is free. Guided tours and catering for groups on request.

Accessibility

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

Ground floor accessible; exhibition rooms on the upper floor are currently not accessible to wheelchair users. Ramps also make the flax diploma possible outdoors. Accessible toilet available. Explanatory videos on flax processing with German subtitles.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Hands-on stations

In the flax diploma, children and adults process flax themselves on historic equipment under guidance and receive a certificate; suitable from age 6, free for children up to 14.

Getting there & parking

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Amenities & dining

• Café

Museum café “Linum” (home-baked cakes, coffee, tea, cold drinks, ice cream), Sundays 2–5 pm during the museum season; the café can also be visited without visiting the museum.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent

Up to 80 guests.

Ground-floor hall with catering for up to 80 people (coffee and cake or “Beecker Kaffeetafel”), flax garden with seating, outdoor grounds also with use of the bakehouse.

Plan your visit