friedens räume Lindau

About the museum

The idea for a peace museum arose in the late 1970s within the Catholic peace movement pax christi in the Diocese of Augsburg. Its then chairman, the Augsburg architect Thomas Wechs Jr., was inspired by the peace museum in Guernica. With the support of the Swabian district heritage officer, the Villa Lindenhof in Lindau-Bad Schachen was found as an exhibition venue, where the peace museum opened in 1980. Wechs headed it until 1998; in the same founding year, a circle of friends was formed.

The merchant Friedrich Gruber had the villa built in 1842 as a neoclassical country estate directly on the lakeshore, surrounded by an English landscape park. The museum uses rooms in the east wing of the house.

After a two-year closure and a complete conceptual overhaul – developed by a pax christi working group with the artist Ruth Gschwendtner, the graphic designer Klaus Lürzer and the Landesstelle für die nichtstaatlichen Museen in Bayern (Bavarian state office for non-state museums) – the museum reopened in 2001 as "friedens räume". Since then, the focus has been on a positive concept of peace rather than the history of war: reading, decision, in-between, workshop and listening rooms invite visitors to engage personally with peace, migration and commitment. An annual program of lectures, concerts and workshops accompanies the season. The museum was honored as a "Ort im Land der Ideen" (Selected Landmark in the Land of Ideas); in 2026 it celebrates its 25th anniversary in its new form.

Highlights

• Interactive permanent exhibition in five themed rooms
• Decision room with personal questions about one's own contribution to peace
• Stories of people with a migration history in the in-between room
• Listening room with texts and songs about peace
• Neoclassical Villa Lindenhof in Lindenhofpark on Lake Constance
• Lindau peace trail to the island

Permanent exhibitions

• friedens räume – Interactive exhibition in the reading, decision, in-between, workshop and listening rooms that lets visitors experience peace as a personal, political and societal task.

Founded

1980

Operated by

pax christi Diözesanverband Augsburg e. V.

Admission & discounts

Tour by appointment €35 plus admission; tour for school classes €25; workshop with tour and quiz for school classes (3 school lessons) €40. Admission is free on International Museum Day.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking
• 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

The friedens räume are accessible for wheelchair users; there is an accessible parking space in front of the Villa Lindenhof.

Kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Hands-on stations

The rooms are designed to be interactive and invite visitors to take part; children up to age 6 free, family ticket €8. Age-appropriate tours and workshops for school classes; the annual program includes occasional offerings for children, for example on World Children's Day.

Getting there & parking

By car in Lindau toward Nonnenhorn/Bad Schachen. The villa is just under 1 km west of the island directly on the lakeshore.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

Small museum shop with sustainable and regional products. The villa is located in the public Lindenhofpark with lake access.

Events & venue rental

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

Plan your visit