Cathedral treasury in Essen with the world's most important collection of Ottonian-Salian goldsmith's work, including the Golden Madonna and the Essen Crown.
September 12, 2026 – November 29, 2026
The exhibition commemorates the last three princess-abbesses of the Essen Frauenstift, whose death anniversaries fall this year on the 300th, 250th and 200th occasion respectively, and asks about their self-image and how they were shaped by the foundation and the city.
Around 850, a group around the nobleman Altfrid, later Bishop of Hildesheim, founded a religious community of women in Asnide in Saxony, the later Essen. The Essen treasure grew out of the liturgy of this women's foundation. In the 10th and 11th centuries, the foundation was, along with Quedlinburg and Gandersheim, one of the three great family foundations of the Ottonian imperial house. During this flourishing period, the four processional crosses, the Essen Sword, the Lily Crown, the cross-nail reliquary and the Gospel book of Abbess Theophanu with its famous binding were created.
The most important work of that time is the Golden Madonna, one of the oldest free-standing sculptures of the Middle Ages. The Essen works of the 10th and 11th centuries form the world's most important collection of Ottonian-Salian goldsmith's work. In addition, there are around 30 Gothic works from the 13th to 15th centuries, including reliquaries, crosses, monstrances, chalices, manuscripts and enameled brooches, which bear witness to the second flourishing of the foundation in the late Middle Ages.
The treasury is located at the Domhof, the square south of the cathedral, and belongs to the Essen Cathedral Chapter. It is managed together with the St. Ludgerus Treasury in Essen-Werden. Some of the liturgical vessels are still used in services at the cathedral today.
| Adults | €6 |
|---|---|
| Reduced | €4Pupils over 18, students up to age 27, people without work or receiving social benefits, people with a severe disability (“B” or “H” marker), holders of the Ehrenamtskarte NRW (volunteer card of North Rhine-Westphalia), graduates of a voluntary service year |
| Children & teens | freefree up to age 18 · Children and young people up to 18 admitted free. |
| Visitors with disabilities | €4Reduced rate for a severe disability with a “B” or “H” marker. |
| Annual pass | €20 |
| Combination ticket for the Essen and Werden treasuries | €8 |
Reduced rates only with proof of eligibility.
The exhibition can be visited barrier-free.
Great for kids & families
| Kids’ admission | free up to age 18 |
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Workshops for school classes, children's birthday parties, after-school care groups (OGS) and other children's groups (e.g. making candles, enamel pictures, decorating treasure boxes), also bookable as holiday programs. Occasionally creative workshops for children aged 5 and up accompanied by an adult (registration required, material costs apply). Children and young people up to 18 enter free.
Rathaus Essen/Porscheplatz
Tram and bus to the Rathaus Essen/Porscheplatz stop; from Essen Central Station, on foot via Kettwiger Straße.
About a 10-minute walk from the main station via Kettwiger Straße; a few minutes on foot from the stop. The treasury is located at the Domhof, the square south of the cathedral.
Get directionsThe museum hasn’t published any information on this.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
| Guided tours | yes · approx. 60 min |
|---|---|
| School programs | yes |
| Good to know | Individual tours of the cathedral and/or the treasury can be booked for a preferred date: cathedral 60 min. €69; treasury 60 min. €69 plus admission; cathedral and treasury 90 min. €99 plus admission; kindergarten and school 60 min. €40. Tours are also available in English, Dutch and French (€20 surcharge). Booking at 0201 2204 206 or domschatz@bistum-essen.de. Occasionally there are public tours (e.g. through the cathedral and the Chapel of the Golden Madonna, €8 per person). |
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