Heimatmuseum Bützow

About the museum

The Bützow local history museum was founded in 1929 around the town’s 700th anniversary celebrations by the Low German Heimatverein; the local historian Hans Wilhelm Barnewitz took over the academic direction. The collection began in two rented rooms of a former sexton’s house, moved to a former factory building in 1948 and to Bützow Castle in 1966.

Since 2000 the museum has been located in the so-called Krummes Haus on the Schlossplatz, one of the oldest buildings in the town, dating from the 15th century and once part of the bishops’ castle complex. Today the house is the town’s educational centre and combines the town library, the historical archive and the museum.

The exhibitions deal with Bützow as a bishop’s seat and Stiftsland, the settlement of the Huguenots, crafts and businesses, and the period of National Socialism and the GDR. A permanent exhibition is devoted to the Friedrichs University, which existed in Bützow from 1760 to 1789. In the cellar, an exhibition redesigned in 2002 documents political injustice in Bützow’s prisons, in particular the Dreibergen penal institution, from the Nazi era to 1989. In front of the house, two memorials commemorate the political prisoners.

Highlights

• Krummes Haus from the 15th century as part of the bishops’ castle
• Permanent exhibition on the University of Bützow 1760–1789
• Documentation centre on the political abuse of the penal system
• Memorials “Der Gefesselte” (The Bound Man) and “zerbrochener Mühlstein” (Broken Millstone) in front of the house

Permanent exhibitions

• Universität in Bützow 1760–1789 – On the short-lived Friedrichs University, which Duke Friedrich founded in Bützow Castle and which was merged back with Rostock in 1789.
• Dokumentationsstätte zum politischen Missbrauch des Strafvollzuges – The exhibition in the cellar shows political imprisonment in Bützow’s prisons, especially in Dreibergen, between 1933 and 1989.
• Stadtgeschichte Bützow – Exhibits on the bishop’s seat and Stiftsland, Huguenots, craft guilds and businesses up to the GDR era.

Founded

1929

Operated by

Stadt Bützow

Director

Andrea Theis

Admission & discounts

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.