Dorfmuseum Münkeboe

About the museum

The museum's starting point is the Münkeboe windmill, a gallery-type Dutch windmill built between 1852 and 1854 that ground grain for about a century. After a storm destroyed the sails in the 1950s, the sails and cap were removed and the mill was used only for storage. When a demolition permit was already in hand in 1980, residents of the village campaigned for its preservation; the owner transferred the mill to a newly founded association.

By 1987 the mill had been fully restored inside and out. When the association was founded, it had already been decided to also collect workshops, farm equipment, and furnishings from the surrounding area in order to pass on old craft knowledge. From 1988, a museum village took shape diagonally opposite the mill, and its first phase was completed in 1992.

Today the village shows what made up a typical East Frisian settlement on the edge of the moor: a settler's house, a bakery with a stone oven, a smithy, a wheelwright's shop, a frame sawmill, a village school, a fire engine house, a Gulf farmhouse with farm machinery, a village inn with a distillery, and a colonial goods store. From 2021 to 2023, a commercial building with a pharmacy, a tailor's shop, a shoemaker's shop, and a barber shop was added. Volunteers of the Dorfarbeitsgemeinschaft Münkeboe run the workshops on event days and, with the "Rollendes Museum" (Rolling Museum), have also been out at events across northern Germany since 1982.

Highlights

• Working gallery-type Dutch windmill of 1854
• Event days with craft demonstrations on the first Saturday of the month (May–October)
• Bakery with wood-fired stone oven
• Frame saw with a diesel engine over 100 years old
• One-room village school with original furnishings
• Commercial building with historic pharmacy

Permanent exhibitions

• Windmühle Münkeboe – The restored gallery-type Dutch windmill of 1854 is fully functional and can be visited with all of its milling machinery.
• Museumsdorf mit Werkstätten – The bakery, smithy, wheelwright's shop, frame saw, village school, fire engine house, Gulf farmhouse, and settler's house show work and everyday life in a village on the East Frisian moor edge.
• Geschäftshaus – The building, completed in 2023, combines a historic pharmacy with a tailor's shop, a shoemaker's shop, and a barber shop.

Operated by

Dorfarbeitsgemeinschaft Münkeboe e. V.

Director

Otto Klatt

Admission & discounts

Museum tour (approx. 2 hours, by registration only): €35.

Accessibility

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

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Hands-on stations

The museum sees itself as a destination for families and school classes; on event days and at family events, children can try their hand at crafts themselves.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Café

Tea room with East Frisian tea and raisin bread; bread and baked goods from the museum bakery are sold in the colonial goods store.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Weddings / ceremonies

Civil wedding ceremonies in the settler's house.

Plan your visit