Emsland Moormuseum

About the museum

The museum goes back to an initiative of the Heimat- und Verkehrsverein Groß Hesepe (local heritage and tourism association). When the cultivation work of the Emsland Plan ended in the 1970s, the association was entrusted with retired large machines from the Ottomeyer company – steam locomobiles, deep plows and bulldozers. Soon machines used in peat extraction and tools from farmers' manual peat cutting were added, and the municipality of Geeste made a remaining area of bog available. 1976 is regarded as the founding year.

In 1984 a first hall with an administration wing was built and soon expanded; in 1992 a building for administration and a restaurant followed. After economically difficult years, the governance was reorganized in 2003/2004: since then the Emsland Moormuseum e. V., whose members include the Emsland district and the municipality of Geeste, has run the museum under scientific direction.

In a German-Dutch EU project, the first exhibition hall was renewed and redesigned in 2005/06; it covers the bog as a habitat, settlement and peat extraction up to 1920. In 2010 a second hall opened, which protects the valuable Ottomeyer machines and presents the Emsland Plan of the postwar period. On the roughly 30-hectare grounds with a restored raised bog, a settler's farm, an ark farm with endangered domestic animal breeds and a narrow-gauge railway, the museum also serves as a nature park center, a place of learning and a research institution.

Highlights

• Ottomeyer steam plowing set with two locomobiles
• Narrow-gauge railway ride across the outdoor grounds (Easter to October)
• Settler's farm and ark farm with Bunte Bentheimer pigs
• Bog adventure landscape with the puzzle game MISSION:MOOR
• Dramatized audio guide through the exhibition and grounds
• Museum café with buckwheat pancakes made from regional ingredients

Permanent exhibitions

• Ausstellungshalle I – Moor, Besiedlung und Torfabbau – The exhibition explains the bog as a habitat, the colonization of the bog areas and the history of peat extraction up to 1920; a small cinema shows historic films.
• Ausstellungshalle II – Der Emslandplan – The hall, opened in 2010, shows the profound transformation of the region in the 1950s and 1960s and preserves the Ottomeyer plow with its steam locomobiles.
• Außengelände mit Siedlerhof – Across about 30 hectares, a restored raised bog, boardwalks, the bog adventure landscape, a settler's farm with a garden and the ark farm invite exploration, some of it by narrow-gauge railway.

Founded

1976

Operated by

Emsland Moormuseum e. V.

Director

Dr. Tanja Hasselberg

Admission & discounts

Accessibility

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

The museum is largely accessible to people with limited mobility, with almost all exhibition levels reachable by elevators or ramps. Wheelchairs and walkers can be borrowed at the ticket desk; seating in the halls. Between Hall I and II there is a gravel path of about 200 m. Bookable tour for people with limited mobility including the narrow-gauge railway ride, as well as an explorer tour for people with visual impairments or in plain language; tour guide systems for the hard of hearing.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Playground / play area
• Kids’ birthday parties

Activity booklet "Eddis Reise durch das Emsland Moormuseum" for families with children up to 8 years (€1.50), the smartphone rally "Abenteuer Moor" for ages 8 and up, and the puzzle game MISSION:MOOR in the bog adventure landscape. Settler's farm with animals, narrow-gauge railway and playground at the café. Children's birthday parties and family tours (March to October) as well as holiday pass activities during the Lower Saxony school holidays.

Getting there & parking

Directly on the A31 between the Geeste and Twist interchanges, near the German-Dutch border.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop

Museum café with organic and regional products (including buckwheat pancakes, dishes made from Bunte Bentheimer pork, cake), terrace, beer garden and children's playground; groups of 10 or more please register. The shop also sells meat and sausage from the museum's own livestock.

Events & venue rental

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

Plan your visit